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No. 



C0PYRI3HT 1921 
BY 

Lawrence A. Holmes 
N0yi9'2l 

S)C!.A627804 



DEDICATOR- LETTER 



AKD 



THE ITINERARY . 



To Aiv L'iiill)Ki:n : 

Some years since, the inquiries and requests of tile two 
okler sisters for portions of personal liistory led me to promise, 
for your information, the preparation of three little books. The 
promise was on the condition that I could at some point in the 
future justly spare the time from the demands of my profession. 
This book redeems about one-third of my obligation in that be- 
half; the other two-thirds are still firmly joined to the condition 
aforesaid. 'J"he War Journal, of course, was written without 
such promise, or ol)ligation, although its condensed character 
would seem to indicate a want of time even in those days. The 
book is not designed for the eye of the public or the stranger. 
Its style is not adapted to the taste of the general or the critical 
reader and no part of it has been written with any reader in mind 
outside of my own family. The matter and the manner need 
no apology to you and there is none to be made to those who 
are not addressed. 

This memorial of the "heroic days" is made from memories 
and memoranda, culled in haste from great masses of each. It 
will give you some idea of the personal and associated experi- 
ences of the period, of the soldier's actual life, what his eyes saw, 
his ears heard, his heart felt, his body and mind underwent, in 
camp and field, on the march and in battle ; how he lived, and 
moved and had his being; how he dared and bled and died. It 
puts in permanent form l)y "the art preservative," for vou and 
yours, some things that must otherwise perish in a few years. 
If your interest shall equal one-half of my pleasure in the work. 
I shall have no regrets. It has been a reviviscence of the times 
that tried not only men's souls, but great questions, having a 
reach that God alone can foresee. 

The plan of the work is simple, however hurried and broken 
may be its execution. The Journal stands in front as a sort of 
"contents." In general terms, there follow three campaigns : 
the first ending at Nashville, Teimessee. liaving two strands, the 



J)i':i)icAT()]<v Le'ltI':r. 

regimental and (jiiasi personal ; the second ending al Chatta- 
nooga, having the personal review and making the record from 
memory mainly and then carrying the regimental and personal 
history forward from Nashville, by the partly separate route, in 
the light of the contemporaneous record, and, lastly, the At- 
lanta campaign, treated in the same way as the second. Each 
of the three cities becomes now, as it was then, a center from 
which there was and is some important radiation. 

I have not attempted to write a history of the war in Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee and Georgia, or even of army movements 
therein, during any portion of the long four }ears. You will 
observe that the province of general history is not invaded be- 
yond the necessity that keeps the track of the regiment and re- 
cords enough of the striking work to show something of the his- 
tory and experiences of its men and officers. 

The constant effort has been to make just and accurate 
statements of fact and if. perchance, a copy of the book should 
fall, at some time, into the hands of one whose knowledge or in- 
formation is different on some subject, incident, date, name or 
number, tell him he must remember his own experience, if he 
has ever written and had his printing done under pressure for 
time, or wait until he has tried such experiment, before passing- 
sentence of condenmation. Above all, he must remember the 
rush and excitement of the war times and that thirty-five years 
are apt to becloud and shade and qualify the faculty of memory, 
dependent largely, as it is, upon the standpoint and the degree 
or intensitv and accuracy of attention and observation and on 
the cai)acity of the observer to receive impressions, as events 
occur, and to retain and express them afterward. My life at the 
jjar has taught me that two honest witnesses, standing together, 
may dift'er widely in their descriptions, on the stand, of a rail- 
road accident, a horse race, or a dog fight. 

An illustration three hundred years old comes to mind. 
'J'he culmination oi what is known in Scottish histor_\- as the 
Cowrie conspiracv against James \ 1. occiu'red in a room to 
which Ruthven. I'.arl ( iowrie's 1)rotlier. had enticed the King. 
There were present James. Ruthven and a retainer named Hen- 
derson, no others, at the beginning of the assault. Dr. Robert- 



D ED [ CATOR V L I'ITT E K . 

son states tlu' differences in the statements of what occnrred 
made l)y tlie KinjL;- and Henderson. 

"1. AeeorchnL;- to the l<int^'s aeconnt, while Mr. Knthven 
was hohhni.^- the dai^i^-er at his l)reast, 'the fellow in the stu<l\- 
stood quaking- and trembling.' lUit Henderson says, that he 
himself wrested the dagger out of Mr. Ruthven's hands. Hen- 
derson likewise boasted to his wife, that he had that day twice 
saved the king from being- stabbed, 'l. The king- asserts, that 
Henderson opened the window dm-ing- Mr. Ruthven's absence. 
Henderson deposes, that he was only attemi)ting- to open it 
when Mr. Ruthven returned, and that dm-ing the struggle be- 
tween the king- and him, he opened it. o. Jf we may believe 
the kin^, the fellow in the study stood, during the strugg^le, be- 
hind the king's back, inactive and trembling- all the time. ]>ut 
Henderson atifirms, that he snatched aw^ay the garter with which 
Mr. Ruthven attem]ited to bind the king ; that he pulled back 
Ivuthven's hand, while he was endeavoring to sto[) the king's 
mouth, and that he opened the window. 4. liy the king's ac- 
count, Mr. Ruthven left him in the study, and went awav in 
order to meet with his Ijrother. and the earl came up the stairs 
for the same purpose. Henderson deposes, that when Mr. 
Ruthven left the king, 'he believes that he did not pass from the 
door.' It is apparent, both from the situation of the house, and 
from either circumstances, that there could not possibly have 
been any interview between the brothers at this time." 

Xo wrong, even of the slightest character, has been pur- 
posely done to any man or any man's memory. 

The "itinerary," so-called, and the index, especially the lat- 
ter, have been so prepared as to supply many of the smaller 
omissions and clear up sonie of the obscurities of the text of the 
Journal. 

In the index, only the later titles or designations, so far as 
knowai, of officers and other persons are given and I have taken 
occasion therein to correct some of the errors in names, initials 
and otherwise, which crept into the work, here and there, in the 
course of the waiting, transcribing and printing thereof. 

If the threatened second volume should never be written, 
vou have in the War Journal a nnich fairer synopsis of most of 



Dedicatory Lettf.r. 

the period which it would cover tlian of the period covered by 
the present vohinie. It must have dawned on my mind — it did 
so — that the mere catch-word character of the earher portions of 
the journal would ])rove very unsatisfactory even to myself, if 
spared, after considerable time should be overpast ; but. though 
the march was a long one and some of the fighting an English- 
man would call "nasty," the opportunities with me for journal- 
izing Avere a little better after than before Atlanta. 

The old bookseller who did not know Hebrew found, while 
making a catalogue, a Kible in that language. He entered it "a 
book that begins at the very end." On the contrary, I am end- 
ing my book at the very beginning. 

The last proof sheets were read this evening and there was 
a fascination in the work so far completed that held me. turning 
over the leaves, away into the night— in fact, until the "mid- 
night hour." How little so ever it may interest others, in the 
story here told in outline I have lived over again these thrilling 
vears. No others in my three score can begin to compare with 
them in depth of interests and feelings, involved and evoked ; in 
the burns and scars from the war that scorched and withered by 
manv a touch ; in the profound and moving tragedy that passed 
like a horrid dream, with its lights and shadows, before my 
youthful eyes. 

It will all, including the actors in the great drama, soon be 
historv, memory, silence, only. 

Affectionately, J. T. H. 



The War (Journal.. 



Entering the Service. 



Richmond, Ohio, August 11, 1862. 

Cars by S. & I. R. R. to Columbus. Gov. Tod. Recruiting com- 
mission. Four days only to run. Returned to Steubenville by Central 
Road. Arrived at midnight. 

August 12 to 20. Recruiting. Fully successful. 

August 20. Reported one hundred and nine men in Steubenville. 
More men offered if I would warrant them places in my company. 
Couldn't do it as my numbers were above the maximum already. 

August 21, 2 a. m. Parting of friends and sweeping off of train for 
Camp Dennison and Dan. McCook's Fifty-second O. V. I. Delayed for 
want of transportation at Columbus four hours. Reached camp at 10 
p. m. All safe. 

August 22. Company mustered in. G in alignment. 

August 23 to 25. Arming and equipping company. 

August 25. By rail in the morning to Cincinnati. Receive colors; 
crossed river. At dusk, took cars for Lexington, Ky. Rode all night. 

August 26. Early dawn, camped south of Lexington, in sight. 
Everything new. Busy. 

August 27 to 30. Fine weather. One battalion drill; learning to 
live and sleep out of doors. Beautiful country; Breckenridge's property 
shining through the trees to left of the city. Poor rebel. 

August 30. Evening and night march to Kentucky River, sixteen 
miles; wearisome tramp. Slept on bed of limestone, broken for repair- 
ing the pike; rough bed, but good rest. 

August 31. Returned to Lexington through driving rain and slavish 
mud. Slept on the floor in Broadway Hotel, I guess. Wet clothes. 
Tired to death. 

September 1. Alorning moved out to camp. Lay down to rest. 
Wakened up at noon of 

PRISONER OF WAR. 

September 2. To find regiment gone. Rebels all around. I had 
been taken to Broadway House, Room 44. Looked out of the window. 
John Morgan and his troop just passing. 

September 3. Lying sick and weak still. 

September 4. Paroled by Rebel Provost Marshal Major A. F. Rud- 
ler. At 4 o'clock, just able to walk, start by Covington pike north. 

September 5. Passed through Georgetown and, 6th, Williamstown. 
Part way on foot, part in wagon. Reached Covington in the night. Es- 



3 Fifty-second O. Y. I. 

corted into our own lines under cavalry guard. Everybody excited. 
Rebels reported threatening the place. 

September 7. Crossed pontoon into Ohio and lay in Cincinnati until 
next day. 

COLUMBUS, OHIO. 

September 8. Took cars for Columbus and reached Camp Chase in 
the evening. 

My present party consisting, all the way from Lexington, of R. E. 
Rex, E. P. Douglass, W. M. Cook, John R. Berry, my brother, A. R., 
and self, all came through safely. Found in this camp some of the Sev- 
enty-first Ohio boys taken prisoners at Clarksville, Tenn. 

September 9 to December 16. Dull, inactive, listless life of prison- 
ers of war, under parole, the monotony only broken by the removal of all 
prisoners from Camp Chase, four miles west of Columbus, to Camp Lew 
Wallace, four miles north, on the Cleveland Road. This took place 
about the middle of October. 

I commanded Company K, Third Regiment Paroled Forces, Colonel 
Rathbone. Among the acquaintances formed here are those with Lieu- 
tenant Gorsuch, Thirty-eighth O. V. L; Captain Stewart and Lieutenant 
Drummond, Seventy-fourth O. V. L — profitable. I must not forget Mrs. 
Ford, High Street, or Kaufifmann, American House, a brother of the 
Lieutenant K. of our Company A. There, too, was the inimitable Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John C. Chiles, Third East Tennessee Volunteers, with 
his Captains and Lieutenants. 

December 16. Officially notified of exchange. Happy as a clam at 
high tide. Bounce into "bus in Camp Wallace to obey an order received 
from Colonel Dan. McCook's own hand in Goodale House, November 
21st, and approved by General Wright, commanding department. Or- 
der: As soon as exchanged go to Eastern Ohio and collect all men be- 
longing to the regiment before reporting for duty in the field. The ap- 
proval allowed absence of one week for compliance. Reached home 11 
p. m. 

Gathered by paroled party, including M. M. Cock. Cook had been 
discharged from the service, and, 

December 26, after having spent the night in Steubenville, started 
by rail for Nashville. Before we reached Louisville the L. & N. R. R. 
had been cut, so that after much ceremony I found myself, 

January 1, 1863, on board and in command of the Steamer J. H. 
Baldwin, with a guard of fifty-one men and one of a fleet imder convoy 
of two gunboats bound by way of the Cumberland for Nashville with sup- 
plies for the Fourteenth Army Corps. 

January 5 to 8. Laboring up stream to Clarksville, Tenn.; thus far 
unmolested. Here, on the evening of our arrival, we hear the first dis- 
patches from the bloody field of Stone River. 

January 9 and 10. Over the shoals of Harpeth and to the Rock City. 



1863, January 10— August 20. 3 

NASHVILLE AND VICINITY. 

January 10, to the beginning of March, the arduous duty of the gar- 
rison, in mud constantly, and for the greater part also in ill health, only 
broken by two foraging expeditions to the southeast about ten miles. 

Round after round of picket and fatigue duty in inexperience and 
unpleasant weather, l;ut the routine was broken, 

March 8, by the order to move by cars to Franklin, sixteen miles 
southeast, and after remaining there until 

March 15, we returned by the pike to Nashville again. 

March 16 to April 7. Same steady old duties. More pleasant 
weather, however, and some battalion and brigade drills. 

April 7. Marched to Brentwood. Camped in line with the Division 
and lay there almost a week, when the force was moved about three- 
quarters of a mile down the road to splendid camping ground on the 
bank of Little Harpeth. 

]\Iay 1. Last night Colonel ]\lcCook arrested Captain Alorrow, com- 
manding the regiment, and Adjutant Masury. It makes me quake almost 
at thought of taking command of the regiment, but I have promised to 
try, and will. 

Alay 2 until June 5. Daily drills. Splendid weather; good health; 
fine spirits. In this interim the shelter tent was first issued to the com- 
mand. Laughed at in the beginning, it was better thought of soon. 
Promoted Major May 5th; Morrow resigned. 

June 5. Broke camp and marched to Nashville once more, arriving 
at midnight. Slept on the old ground until daylight. Pitched tents and 
resumed garrison duty from 

June 6 until 25, when I was ordered in command of two hundred 
teams and train guard of two hundred and thirty-eight officers and men 
to Alurfreesboro. 

June 28. After three days constant rain and labor, I am back at 
Nashville and report the train safely delivered to Brigadier General H. 
P. Van Cleve, commanding post, Murfreesboro, Tenn. Formed a good 
opinion of the old General. 

June 29. Brigade ordered to Murfreesboro, 10 p. m.; take cars: ar- 
rive at daylight. 

June 3(> to July 10. Lay in camp at this post without any special 
events. 

July 20. One o'clock a. m. reach the old camp ground, by cars, from 
Murfreesboro to Nashville. Brigadier General Whittaker aboard. 
Pointed out where he fought at Stone River, losing his Lieutenant Col- 
onel. Major, Adjutant and every third man in three minutes. It was hot. 

Slept on the ground till morning and at daylight moved to the camp 
of the Tenth Michigan Infantry, Colonel Charles M. Lane. 

July 21 to August 20. Doing garrison, picket and fatigue duty; 
furnishing train guards, upon one of which latter details three men of 



4 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Company D were killed and Lieutenant Neighbor wounded by a col- 
lision on the line between Nashville and Murfreesboro. From the 15th 
to the 20th we were busy preparing for a march and on the night of the 
19th all was ready. The regiment had risen in numbers to five hundred 
men. The sick had returned and the Northerner had become acclimated. 

THE MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA. 

August 20. Broke camp at 4 a. m. Reached Brentwood between 
12 and 1. Camped for the afternoon and night in the old woods. 

August 21. Moved at daylight. Old darkey lost his melons from 
his wagon as the regiment passed. Camped about noon on our former 
ground at Franklin. 

August 22. Citizen's meeting in Franklin. Parson Bronlovv spole; 
Governor Johnson also. I did not hear them. 

August 23. Marched at daylight, passing through Spring Hill abovit 
noon. Weather intensely hot. Camped two miles south. 

August 24. Moved at 8 o'clock four miles south to Carter's Creek. 
Colonel McCook started back to Nashville this morning. The Eighty- 
fifth Illinois, Colonel C. J. Dilworth, was left at Franklin and the Eighty- 
sixth Illinois, Lieutenant Colonel David W. INIagee, was left north of 
Spring Hill about one mile. 

These left Lieutenant Colonel Langley, One Hundred and Twenty- 
fifth Illinois, in command of the brigade, then consisting of the One 
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois. Fifty-second O. V. I. and Battery I, 
Second Illinois Artillery, Cap'ain Barnett. 

Preparations were made for building the railroad bridges over Car- 
ter's Creek of which there were four or five within a mile of camp. Men 
maraud some. 

August 25. Just as the details are ready to swing the axes, we are 
ordered to Columbia, six miles. It is reached at dusk; men shouting as 
they wade Duck river. Camp on stony ground for the night. Have 
slight attack of congestion of the stomach: no harm, however. 

August 26. ]\Ioved camp through to the west side of town, in the 
morning, upon ground that had been occupied by a part of First Brigade. 

August 27 to 29. Lie still. Troxell, R. Q. M., going foraging on 
28th. I received the black horse. 

August 29. Colonel McCook returned. Eighty-fifth and Eighty- 
sixth came up. Scathing order upon Fifty-second and One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth for marauding at Carter's Creek under Lieutenant Col- 
onel Langley. Order read to the four regiments. It tickled the two that 
escaped. 

August 30. Order read again, as it laid down the manner of march 
Started early in the day; passed through Lynnville and camped in sight. 
People warned by McCook about bushzvJiaeking. 



18G3, August 31 — September 11. 5 

August 31. Five bushwhacking shots at daylight. Two men ot 
Company E wounded; Thompson in foot, Stewart in shoe. Colonel 
Harmon, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois, burns Hve houses in 
Lynnville on short notice. One shot fired at rear guard on Pigeon Hill. 
Through Pulaski four miles and camped. 

September 1. Crossed Elk river at Elkton, a deserted town. R. Q. 
M. Troxell caught blazes from Colonel McCook when a wagon stalled 
on south bank of the river. Men waded as at Duck river, the night we 
reached Columbia; a constant shout. Camp on Tennessee soil near 
Blowing Springs, Alabama. Walker, Rider. 

September 2. Through fourteen miles black jack barrens to Athens, 
Alabama; camped south side of town. 

September 3. Lying over. Dust. Inspection. Overcoat stolen. 
McCook sketches a citizen who usually drank, as he said, but one finger 
of whiskey, but he always measured lengthwise of the finger! 

September 4. Twenty-five miles march along the Ime of the M. & 
C. R. R. Entered Huntsville at dusk. Grand old city, viewed at sunset. 
Waded a small creek five times before we could find the camp in the 
dark. Finally formed our lines on the bank of the stream and rested for 
the night. 

September 5. At 6 a. m. marched through the city and after a rocky 
and mountainous tramp camped on Hurricane Creek. Regiments search- 
ed for some articles stolen from a sick man. Found in One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth Illinois. 

September 6. Moved early. About 10 a. m. I was sent to take com- 
mand of a mounted detail to lay waste and make an utter desolation of 
the birthplace of Gurley, General Bob. McCook's murderer. While I was 
gone Adjutant Masury ran down, tuckered out, the whole regiment. The 
lead was his while I was away. Country gently rolling; weather splendid, 
as it has been all the way from Nashville. Camped at Cave Spring. 

September 7. Passed through Bellefonte. Joke on our band. They 
played half way through town and then discovered there was no living 
thing in it to hear them. Train fell behind; camped one day's march from 
Stevenson. 

September 8. Reached Stevenson; very dusty. Colonel Harmon, 
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, lost with his regiment, after getting 
nearly to camp. Captain Hutchison joined us. 

September 9. Lying over. Troxell ordered to resign. Lietitenant 
Brice, Company F, appointed A. R. Q. M. Clothing drawn. Captain 
Schneider, Company I, detailed for scouts. 

September 10. Moved up to Bridgeport. Present, the whole of 
General Steadman's Division. First of Reserve Corps, and our brigade. 
Second of the Second Division R. C. 

September 11. Crossed the Tennessee river pontoon: camped on 
bank of the river. Saw Major Hanna, Sixty-ninth O. V. I. 



G Fifty-second O. V. I. 

September 12. Moved to Shell Mound. 

September 13. Baggage inspected in the morning. Marched to 
Lookout Creek. Passed Whiteside's bridge, burned down, and the pali- 
sades; rough, narrow road. Reached the creek at dark; men worn out. 
completely. Supper with Sixty-ninth Ohio. At 8 p. m. moved up oyer 
Lookout mountain and at 11 p. m. bivouacked in front of Rosecrans' 
headquarters. Raw, damp, disagreeable night. 

September 14. Marched early to Rossville, Ga. Rations scarce. 
Encamped, facing the Gap. 

September 15 to 18. Lying in camp without rations. In this in- 
terim occurred the freak on the part of General Gordon Granger, com- 
manding reserve corps, of stripping and tying up soldiers of Steadman's 
Division and McCook's Brigade for the purpose of whipping them. 

It was not done. If it had been, I think Gordon Granger would have 
been killed then and there, for enlisted men were, from starvation, so far 
ripe for mutiny if a soldier had been struck by Granger's order. The 
men had been foraging "too liberally" ofi the country while without ra- 
tions. This was the offense. 

CHICKAMAUGA. 

September 18. At 4 p. m. moved out the Lafayette road about four 
miles. Into line on the left, going south. A question asked by McCook 
angers me, not at him, but at some unknown, malignant liar. Lay in 
line all night. 

September 19. Skirmishing in front near by at daylight. With- 
draw to Rossville. Noon, I have the clue to the "unknown liar." 

Heavy fighting south of last night's position. Evening, into line in 
the Gap on Ringgold road. 

September 20. At daylight forward to McAfee's church. In line 
watching for movement of the enemy against the left flank of our army. 
Afternoon, moved to the right as far as Cloud's house. Terrific fighting 
all day farther to the right. Attacked before we got into position. 
Shelled for two hours; no casualties. Night, withdraw to Rossville. our 
army defeated. 

September 21. Hurried into line at 1 p. m. in the Gap to meet the 
advancing enemy. Under fire until dark. Withdrew to Chattanooga, 
Terin. 

September 22. Lying in the city. 

September 23. Into line behind our trenches. Rosecrans came 
round. 

September 24. Attack at night repulsed. Mission Ridge and Look- 
out mountain fully in rebel possession. 

September 25. Afternoon of to-day we crossed to the north side of 
the Tennessee on the pontoon and moved four miles up to Caldwell's 
ford. 



18G3, Septembf.r 26 — November li). 7 

September 26. Lying on the bank of the river in bivouack. 

September 27. Moved three miles above and encamped at the mouth 
•of North Chickamauga creek. 

September 28 to October 9. Engaged building quarters. On this 
latter day I made my first official report. Some bad weather. 

October 10 to 29. Picketing the river bank in all kinds of weather 
but good; holding election; and trying to be comfortable with little to 
eat and wear. Rebel possession of Lookout interfering with our sup- 
plies, materially. The men completed very decent quarters and could 
T<eep warm if it was almost starvation. 

October 29. The Fifty-second and Eighty-sixth crossed Tennessee 
at Brown's ferry. Moved through the gap and camped. Boys tore down 
a cabin to build fires. Rain all day. 

October 30. Women came for their furniture. Rain. Moved two 
miles up the range to a gorge. Took possession in the rain and dark- 
ness. Right wing on picket; rained till midnight. Eighty-sixth Illinois 
in reserve. 

October 3L At 3 p. m. moved a mile farther up to occupy a spur of 
the mountain. Left wing and Company C on picket; remaining four 
companies in the gap on the right with their left flank exposed to the 
enemy's batteries on the summit. Eighty-sixth Illinois in reserve. 

November L Lying under heavy artillery fire. Changed position 
till the shelling slackened. Purtiman, Company F, hit with a shell, in 
cartridge box! Moved back into position; mustered regiment. Rebels 
shelled troops and trains passing gap all day. 

November 2. Shelling as yesterday; one burst in regiment. Six* 
companies still on picket. Eighty-sixth in reserve! Colonel McGce com- 
manded the two regiments. 

November 3. Quieter to-day. Two companies relieved from picket 
by two of the Eighty-sixth. 

November 4. All quiet. At night three rounds fired at the gap 
below. 

November 5. Seven companies of the regiment on picket! Eighty- 
sixth in camp. 

November 6. Returned to North Chickamauga, shying the batteries 
on Lookout. A Lieutenant at the pontoon wouldn't receipt to the rebels 
for their ordnance and they had quit sending it to him and his bridge. 

November 6 to 19. No movements or extraordinary events. 1 
have been very imwell since the Wauhatchie or Lookout Valley cam- 
paign. 

November 19. Court-martial up at Dallas: trying Captain Mason, 
Tenth Illinois, Morgan's First Brigade of our J. C. Davis Second Divi- 
sion, Fourteenth A. C. Court-martial continued until 22d. Case dis- 
posed of. Still sick. 



8 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

MISSION RIDGE. 

November 24. Four o'clock a. m. to Caldwell's ford. Pistol fired in 
my holster as my horse stepped into a little stream: no harm done. One 
p. m. crossed pontoon; into line in front of first range of trenches. At 
dusk, one mile forward. 

November 25. Moved to support Sherman's Fifteenth Corps at the 
tunnel, Mission Ridge. Shell after us now and then. Terrific fighting 
at the tunnel. Mission Ridge carried by assault about 4 p. m. 

November 26. One a. m. moved down and crossed the mouth ot 
Chickamauga river on pontoon. Camped in an orchard, opposite our 
position day before, until daylight. Manoeuvred in advancing all day 
and at dusk got into fight at Shepherd's run, two miles beyond Chicka- 
mauga Station, towards Graysville. Slept on the ground. 

November 27. Passed through Graysville. Saw Sherman silting on 
depot platform. Hooker engaged at Ringgold gap. Afternoon, camp 
near the town. Rebels gone. Bucke made good speed skirmishing to- 
day. 

KNOXVILLE CAMPAIGN. 

November 28. Passed, in the rain, Parker's gap. Bivouacked; 
wagons came up with rations for ofScers. 

November 29. Moved through McDaniel's gap, Taylor's Ridge, 
White Oak mountains, and camped for the night near Cleveland, Tenn. 

November 30. Reached the vicinity of Charleston on the Hiawas- 
see; encamped for the night; fine weather, but cool. 

December 1. Swift and recruiting sergeants started to Ohio. Have 
not been well since November 6th and am apparently as far gone as man 
can be to live. Crossed Hiawassee on railroad bridge. Sicker still. 
Riding when sight failed. Straggling march; encamp within a few miles 
of Athens, Tenn. 

December 2. Camped at night in leafy woods. Schneider and his 
scouts at a barn. Lieutenant Donaldson and detail killed beef. Good 
rest for the night. 

December :}. Encamped two miles from Loudon, Tenn. 

December 4. Through Loudon, and, after passing part of Fifteenth 
Corps, camped on the bank of Little Tennessee, opposite Morgantown. 
Saw McElravy, Thirtieth O. V. I. 

December 5. No movement; building bridge. Browsed round about 
rations for our officers and scared Batcheler a little. 

December 6. Crossed the river. Marched six miles toward Knox- 
ville. Countermarched, recrossed and recamped. 

December 7. Marched to and through Madisonville, Tenn. Camped 
twice, finally about five miles from the village. 

December 8. Rain and mud. Gouldy's Mills, six miles from the 
inouth of Conesauga creek. 



18G3-'64, December 8— March 1G. 9 

December 8 to 15. Grinding wheat and corn for the brigade and 
chasing the rebel Kimbrough; beat him, too. 

December 15. Left Captain Bucke to finish terms with Kimbrough 
and marched through Charleston. Camped. 

December 16. Camped near Cleveland, Tenn. 

December 17. Camped near McDaniel's Gap. What a ran! 

December IH. Through the gap. Camped at Tyner's Station. 
Bucke came in with ]\Iiser and Swan. 

December 19. Chattanooga. Cold, bitter cold. Supper with Major 
Hanna, Sixty-ninth. At midnight reached North Chickamauga! ! ! 

December ■_'0-2Ci. In camp. 

M'AFEE'S CHURCH. 

December 20. Rain; moved to McAfee's Church, Georgia. New 
quarters to be built. I remained at Caldwell's on court-martial until 
29th. 

December 29, 3n and 81. In camp. 

January 1, 1864, to 28. In camp, building quarters. 

January 28. Moved, light marching order, to Ringgold on a recon- 
noisance. 

January 29. Returned to camp. 

January 3U to February 14. Lying in camp and improving quarters. 

February 14. Moved to Chickamauga Station, where we drilled, 
off and on, until Sunday. 

February 20. Arthur J. Rosa, assistant surgeon of our regiment, 
died at McAfee. 

February 21. Took inventory of his effects. 

February 22. Returned to the station. 

February 23. By way of Graysville to Ringgold. Had a talk with 
Colonel Harmon, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois. 

February 24. Buzzard Roost. Stopped us with artillery at dusk. 

February 25 and 26. Manoeuvering in front of the gap and at night- 
fall Twenty-sixth drew back through Tunnell Hill to Ringgold. 

February 27. McAfee's again. 

February 28 to March 5. Constant drilling. 

March 5. Let this item bear witness that if the conduct of an officer 
this evening will bear the name of gentlemanly, in any light, I prefer to 
live and die what has heretofore been styled an unmannerly boor. You 
may sprinkle a little of the scoundrel in it too. 

LEE AND GORDON'S MILLS. 
March 6. You call that an apology, do you! ! ! Buy a fool and lose 
your money. March to Lee and Gordon's mills: camped in swamp. 
March 7 and 8. Still on bad ground. 
March 9. Moved a few rods to good ground. 
March 10 to 16. Drilling. 



10 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

March 16. I reported on court-martial at McAfee. 

March 17. Conesauga horse kicked and crippled. 

March 18 to 30. On court-martial. 

March 31. Whole Division reviewed. Thomas, Palmer and Davis 
present. McCook fried to drill the Fifty-second. 

April 1. Writing. 

April 2. Lee and Gordon's Mills. 

April 3 to 30. Drilling and ordinary duties of camp. 

May 1. Looking forward to the coming campaign. 

May 2. Ready to march. 

May 3. Marched to Ringgold. 

May 4. Lying in bivouac. 

May 5. Passed through Ringgold gap; camped near by. 

May 6. Lying still. Saw Bob Harriman. Received a note from 
Sam. McMillen. Didn't see him. McCook instructs me for the fight 
to-morrow. I am to command the advance. "When you get 'em started, 
keep them on the hop." 

ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 

May 7. Made them liop out of Tunnel Hill. 

May 8. Lying in the village. 

May 9. In the evening reported to the brigade in front of Buzzard 
Roost. 

May 10. Rain. Evening, relieved General Morgan's brigade on 
Rocky Face. 

May 11. Regiment under fire all day. Rained, aye, poured. Re- 
lieved at dark. Dropped back two miles and camped. 

May 12. Marched for Snake Creek gap. Reached the mouth by 
steady, slavish tramping at 3 a. m. 

May 13. Moved a short distance at daylight and halted. Stacked 
knapsacks. Evening, made a winding march into position. 

May 14. Moved forward slowly. Skirmishing in front. Afternoon, 
supported Twenty-third Corps assaulting a fort. Terrific musketry. 
Carter, Company C, killed by a solid shot; cut in two at the waist. Sher- 
man and a shot. After dark moved into position a little to the right and 
fortified. 

May 15. Close firing. Captain Sturgis, Company B, wounded. 
Night fight. 

ROME. 

May 16. Rebels gone. March for knapsacks and then toward Rome. 

May 17. Marched sixteen miles; no opposition. Two miles from 
Rome the Third Brigade, about 4 p. m., ran afoul of a smart force of 
rebels and lost about seventy men, but held its ground. Cloudy; damp. 



18(34, May 18— June 10. II 

May 18. Write home; rebels withdrawing. At 10 p. m. crossed the 
Oostanaula to check a threatened cavalry dash: fortified the streets and 
slept till morning. 

May 19. Stay in the city. 

May 20. Encamped in the suburbs and so remained, only interrupted 
by our cars on the 22d, until 

May 24. At 6:30 a. m. moved over the Etowah a few rods above the 
junction with the Oostanaula and, after a day's march and passing a part 
of the Sixteenth Corps in the evening, we camped in woods and rain, in 
the vicinity of Vanwert. 

May 25. Moved toward Dallas. Hooker fighting heavily in front 
during the evening. Camped by a stream. Rain again; Davis, our cook, 
Sid, the darkey.and the negro wench in blue overcoat! a blooming party. 

May 26. Moved by the left to the corps; countermarched and moved 
to Dallas. Camped near town on a steep woody knob. Clancy stung 
by a scorpion. Visit from ^McElravy. Brother A. R. and Funston came 
up. 

May 27. Early in the morning, while moving forward in line, one 
of D killed and one of F wounded by a single shot from a sharpshooter. 
The shot was fired at myself; I was riding in the advancing line. The 
shot came a full three-quarters of a mile. The men fell bsside my horse. 
Line established far in advance and fortified. 

May 28. Rebels opened artillery from a commanding position on 
our left. No damage, but this position is a ticklish one, so far ahead of 
the main line. At night our pickets came in and were sent out again. 

May 29. At night, drop back a mile. Fight on the right. McPher- 
son. New line in the open field. Resumed old position at dawn. 
Masury's overcoat and Freeman's tent make a multiplication of words. 

May 30. At dusk, with the whole brigade, withdrew the line at \\'ash- 
ington house. 

May 31. Artillery practice of the Johnnies on the One Hundred and 
Twenty-fifth; for the rest, quiet. 

June 1. Early in the morning, under the eyes of the rebels, with- 
drew and marched several miles to our left, going in on the right of 
Wood's Division, relieving Strickland's scared brigade at dusk. 

June 2. Behind second line of works, at dusk, behind first. 

June 3. Still behind first line. 

June 4. Two miles, to left of Baird's Division. Saw ]\Iath. Simp- 
son this morning before we started. 

June 5. Lying still. 

June 6. Marching orders: enemy gone. Moved near Dallas. 
Fourteenth in line. Second Division on the left. Saw Dubois, Fifteenth 
Ohio, to-day. 

June 6 to 10. Resting. Meantime IMasury declines captaincy. 
Lieutenant McDonald, Battery I, captured. Dr. Simpson made assist- 
ant surgeon. 



12 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

June 10. Moved early. Good bite with Company F man. Nig. 
Mun. laughs at adjutant's want of appetite. Noon. Rain p. m. Camp. 
Furay talks about Sherman. 

June 11. Turned; twisted; fortified; changed direction lo the left; 
forward a mile and fortified. In good view of Kenesaw, three miles or 
less distant. 

KENESAW. 

June 12. Remain in works. Dreary, dismal, rainy. Looking at 
Kenesaw. 

June 13. Twelve o'clock, Companies I, C. H and E advance skir- 
mish line and drop back. Not much opposition. 

June 14. Skirmish line relieved by One Hundred and Twenty-fifth. 
Main line changed. direction to the left and fortified. "Polk killed," as 
read from rebel signals. 

June 15. Barnett shelling. Support Major Thomas of Eighty-sixt>. 
in skirmish advance. Brisk fight at night on our left. 

June 16. Skirmish on left at night. Abe sent to hospital. 

June 17. No movement. 

June 18. Twelve m. A, K, G and B on skirmish line. Advance 
p. m. Several bullets! 

June 19. Enemy fell back at '1 a. m. Follow to the foot of Kenesaw 
in the afternoon. Whiskey issued. 

June 20. Move a mile to the right in the afternoon. Still under 
the mountain. Heavy shelling; one of Company I killed by our own 
shells. 

June 21. Build breastworks. Right at Kirk's house. 

June 22. Shelled oitr line in open field; moved and moved back. 

June 23 and 24. Lying behind good works. Evening 23d, moved 
out to take Kenesaw. Didn't. 

June 25. Relieve Rider's skirmish line. One of Company D 
wounded at dusk while being relieved. Whole line relieved after night- 
fall and marched nearly all night to the right; behind the right of Fourth 
Corps at dawn. 

June 26. Lay in a stinking camp, resting! 

June 27. The charge. Let memory tell it later on, or let no more 
be said by the writer. It was terrible. 

June 28. Behind works close to Jchiiny: say forty yards distant. 

June 28, 29 and 30. A constant pouring of rifle balls. Some casu- 
alties. 

July 1. As for the three preceding days. 

July 2. Lieutenant Miser, Company G, wounded. Midnight. En- 
emy evacuate their works, fearful of a mine of powder springing under 
their feet on the 4th, and it might have been.. 

July 3. Passed through Marietta; came in sight of the enemy's 
works about six miles south of Marietta. Camped in woods. 



18G4, July 4 — August -4. 13 

July 4. Lay in sight of Johnny; watched Coe shell skirmish pits! 
evening, relieved Morgan's brigade. 

July 5. Following the retreating rebels to Vining's Station. Forti- 
fied. 

July 6 and 7. No movement with us. 

July 8. On skirmish line; hot place. Banghart lost his arm. 1 
made Surgeon Duff nervous about the cutting. It was wholly unneces- 
sary. 

July 9. P. M. The last of the enemy crossed the Chattahoochee. 

July 10. Camped near the river. Rain; wet. 

July 11 to 16. Lying in camp, resting. 

July 16. The regiment inspected. 

July 17. Marching orders for to-morrow. 

July 18. Crossed Chattahoochee and Nancy's creek. Fortified. 

PEACH TREE CREEK. 

July 19. News of Colonel McCook's death. Fight at Peachtree. 
Loss heavy. 

July 20. Fortified in column and lay still. 

July 21. Artillery brought up. Enemy caught — a soldier would 
say — Hell. 

July 22. Moved towards Atlanta. Fighting on our left. Camp two 
miles from the city. The brigade in reserve. 

July 23, 24, 25. Yet in reserve. 

July 26. Both horses stolen. 

July 27. Failed to recover them. They have gone with General 
Ed. McCook, I think. 

July 28. Rear guard of a reconnoisance to Turner's ferry. Fight- 
ing on our left, and, as we made the circuit, taking all left hand roads, 
it seemed to change to our front and die away on our right. Reached 
the right rear of Fifteenth Corps about 10 p. m. Great straggling over 
the last mile of road — so dark and woody. 

July 29. In line of battle, advanced over the ground upon which 
rebels were strewn yesterday. At dusk, relieved Eighty-sixth on skirm- 
ish line. 

July 30. Relieved by Thirtieth O. V. I., and moved Division dis- 
tance to the right. 

July 31. On a reconnoisance two miles to the right. Rained like 
sin. "Tn retreat by the center." Return at nightfall, but little ad- 
vantaged. 

August 1. In camp. McElravy visited me. 

August 2. In camp. Marching orders. No movement. 

August 3. In camp. Roebuck purchased from McCook's estate. 

August 4. Noon, moved to the right two miles. Line in open field. 
Random shell. Forward, formed second line. 



14 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

August 5. Early morn. Forward changing direction to the left. 
Got shelled like blazes. Officer of Missouri regiment scared. Fortified. 
E, G, B and K on picket. 

August G. In works. Dusk, pickets relieved. 

SANDTOWN ROAD. 

August 7. Advanced to full view of enemy's works. Loss, Lieu- 
tenant Knecht and ten men. Dusk, fortified. 

August 8. Four men killed in our works. Bowers, Company A, 
Courtman, Flynn and Armstrong, Company H. 

August 9. No loss; expended 13,000 rounds. Silenced enemy. 

August 10. No loss, hot fire, beat Johnny at three hundred yards. 

August 11. Hot fire: Otho Linton killed. 

August 12. Hot as yesterday; no loss. After dark, dropped back 
to third line where we had been shelled on the 5th. Damp, drizzly night. 
August 13. Before daylight moved along our works to Utoy creek; 
occupied works of Twenty-third Corps facing a splendid valley to the 
south. 

August 14 and 15. Resting. 

August 16. A, F, D and I on picket. 

August 17. Companies ofif picket, but lit:le skirmishing. 

August 18. Ordered to be ready to move to-night. Wagons pack- 
ed; order countermanded. 

August 19. March at 2:30 a. m. Support Kilpatrick. About noon, 
move to rear of Twenty-third Corps and lie there until night; back again 
to our camp on the creek. 

August 20. March at daylight through rain, rain, rain. Cut Mont- 
gomery railroad near Red Oak. Saw Major Dunn and Lieutenant Gam- 
ble, Third East Tennessee Infantry, to-day. Knew them in Camp Lew 
Wallace, Ohio. Tired, tired, tired, to-night: words can't tell it. 

August 21. Lying in camp, but little firing along the lines. Rain 
to-night. Artillery on the left. 

August 22. Packing Clancy's effects and marking them. 

August 23. Companies I, C, H and E on picket. 

August 24. Pickets off. All hands resting. 

August 25. Sherman and Thomas moving headquarters toward the 
right. 

August 26. Marching orders at nojn. Pack wagons and lie around 
loose until 

August 27. Before daylight moved out. Crossed Utoy; into line: 
Johnny followed timidly. Built works and encamped. 

August 28. Daylight, moved. Firing in rear; crossed Montgomery 
railroad. Into line, right of Fourteenth Corps. Rebels close to camp at 
dusk. 

August 29. Lying still. 



1864, August 30— October 10. 15 

August Si). Moved to right front near Rough and Ready. Forti- 
fied. Talked with Colonel Dilworth. 

August 31. P. M. Moved front; back and towards firing on the 
right. Encamped behind Howard. 

JONESBORO. 

September 1. Moved with brigade towards Jonesboro. Skirmish- 
ers. Charge, wotinded. Brilliant success of our arms. Dilworth ancf 
Anderson wounded. 

September 2. Encamped at Jonesboro. Wound pains. 

September 3. Evening, moved about four miles to Division hos- 
pital. 

ATLANTA. 

September 4. Regiment had the advance through Rough and Ready 
to Atlanta; ],60U prisoners and train of wounded. 

September 5 to 28. Lay in camp one and one-half miles south of 
Atlanta on E. P. railroad. The monotony of our rest after completion 
of camp was unbroken save by the arrival and departure of Dr. M. E. 
Walker, who had escaped, by exchange, from rebel hands and made her 
way here. A very dull period, I found it. 

September 28. Orders to prepare for move. Night. Bucke high. 

September 29. Clancy exchanged. We leave Atlanta by cars at 
4 p. m. 

TO INTERCEPT FORREST. 

September 30. Daylight found us at Vining's Station. Engine 
broke. Labored along all day and night. 

October 1. Daylight found us at Resaca. Evening. Chattanooga. 

October 2. Daylight, Stevenson. At 7 o'clock left for Huntsville; 
arrived at noon. Encamped. At dark, in the rain, took cars again for 
Athens; arrived at 5 p. m. 

October 3. Lay in camp, in the rain, until 

October 4. At daylight, moved out on Florence road. Hard rain, 
hard march. Camp in night at Rogersville after wading Elk river. 

October 5. Hard march; crossed Shoal creek bridge and encamped 
in the night. 

October 6. Skirmishing on picket line; moved without knapsacks 
to Florence and returned. 

October 7. P. M. Moved into Florence: camp on river above 
town. 

October 8. Marched through town to see it. Fine ladies at semi- 
nary. 

October 9. In camp. 

October 10. Camped on a small stream between Shoal creek and 
Elk river. 



16 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

October 11. Camped where Buell's troops had camped two years 
before. He saved the rails, ive burned them. 

October 12. Passed through Athens and camped two miles out on 
Huntsville road. 

October 13. Headquarters in cotton press. Received mail. Swift 
went home. Night moved into town. 

October 14. Three a. m. Took cars. Reached Chattanooga mid- 
night. Found the city scared. 

October 15. Evening, ordered to Rossville gap. Relieve Twenty- 
eighth Kentucky. 

October 16. Relieved this morning and returned to Chattanooga at 
8 a. m. 

October 17. Clothing and arms drawn. Fourteenth colored, dress 
parade. Lookout struck some of the boys in the face. 

October 18. March at 7 a. m. P. M. camp on the old ground at 
Lee and Gordon's Mills. Saw Dick, my Conesauga horse, still lame. 

October 19. Encamped at Lafayette. Roebuck given out, glanders. 

October 20. Encamped on Chattooga river, McConneirs Mills. 
Regiment in lead of Division. 

October 21. Driving cattle. At noon Twenty-second Indiana re- 
ported to me and we were left with the stock by the Division. En- 
camped southwest of Alpine, where McCook's advance was when 
"Chickamauga" began. Hardy shot at something. Mill creek. 

October 22. Reached Gaylesville, Ala., and turned cattle over, hav- 
ing passed through gap. 

October 23. Reading forage order. Lying still. 

October 24. Add. Marsh visits us. 

October 25. In camp; forage order again. 

October 26. Marsh again. 

October 27. P. M. crossed the Chattooga. Camped on Rome road. 
Band moved quarters; eighteen miles from Rome. A and F picket. 

October 28. March at daylight. Pass Catty's gap. Trees felled. 
Camp at Rome in sight of battle ground of May 17. What changes 
since! 

October 29 and 30. In camp. 

October 31. March at 8 a. m. Rations and informal muster on 
north bank of Oostanula. Crossed and passed through Rome at noon. 
Roebuck shot. I'm afoot. Camp half way to Kingston, left hand side 
the road in a narrow bottom. 

November 1. Reach Kingston in rain; camp in suburbs. 

November 2. Lieutenant Lane sent to Atlanta for rolls. 

November 3. Bought ''Jack." 

November 4. Lane returns. 

November 5. Regiment paid by Major Williams. 

November 6. Captain Rothacker takes money of men to Chatta- 
nooga. 



1864, November 7--i7. 17 

November 7. Orders to move at 6 a. m. to-morrow. Glad of it, 
for the flow of whiskey has been far too abundant for the good of the 
service since we reached this post. Here I have formed the acquaint- 
ance of Dr. Harris, formerly a rebel surgeon. 

November 8. By way of Cassville (burned downj reached Carters- 
ville at 1 p. m. Election held 2:15. I opened the polls on the march 
through the deserted village of Cassville. 

November 9. In camp one and one-half miles south of town. 

November lU. Roll call orders. Some whiskey in camps. 

November H. Fifty-second and Twenty-second ordered to Etowah 
bridge at 4 p. m. Countermanded. 

November 12. Moved at 6 a. m. to the bridge. 

November 13. Crossed river. Tore up railroad south to AUatoona. 
Camp at Ackworth. Hardy and McGee fight. '"They did, hey!" 

November 14. Encamped four miles north of the Chattahoochee 
on a backbone. 

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 

November 15. Marched into Atlanta, or to its ruins. It is now 
little else than a smoking heap. Clothing issued and orders for a move 
in the morning. 

November IG. Train guard. Camp at dark four miles east of De- 
catur. 

November 17. Reached Lithonia. Tore up railroad to Conyer's 
Station; went into camp close by. 

November 18. Marched through Covington. Tore up railroad. 
Foraged and camped at night east of Ulcofauhatchie. 

November 19. Foraged to Shady Dale. Two escaped prisoners 
came in this evening at forage rendezvous. Rained all night. Up in 
the most of it. Completely run down. 

November 20. Through Shady Dale and camp at Eatonton factory. 

November 21. Reached Cedar creek bridge. Played provost mar- 
shal. Guard was tricked and some mules were improperly taken. Trans- 
gressor caught. Rain and mud all day. 

November 22. No movement. Other Divisions passing. Sherman 
at Morgan's headquarters last night. Raw, windy day. 

November 23. Rear guard. Camp within one and a half miles of 
Milledgeville. 

November 24. Through IMilledgeville to Town creek. 

November 25. Passed Trainor's Mills and camped east of Buffalo 
creek. 

November 2G. Skirmished through Sandersville and camped. Gen- 
eral IMorgan taking off foraged hats. Quartermaster Sergeant Scott in 
limbo. 

November 27. Crossed Fenn's bridge and camped. One of D cap- 
tured by the enemy to-day. 



18 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

November 28. Crossed Rocky Comfort and camped at Louisville. 

November 29. No movement in our corps. 

November 30. Fight on picket line in the evening. Skirmish. 
Foragers cut ofif. Straggle in. Picket at dusk. Burn cotton gin. 

December 1. Rear of corps train. Mired through ten miles of 
swamp and, night, slept by lone oak; to bed at 12. 

December 2. Reserve artillery guard. Camp in woods. Twentieth 
Corps and cavalry close by. 

December 3. Marched northeast, southeast. Forage seventy-five 
hogs and camp one and a half miles from Lumpkin's Station, Augusta 
and Waynesboro road. 

December 4. Foraged towards Jacksonboro. Skirmish at Haber- 
sham. Wrong road. Dinner over Beaver Dam creek. No forage of 
any acocunt. 

December o. Guard battery. Camp at Buck creek P. O. 

December G. In advance; camp by Big Black swamp. 

December 7. Rear guard. Move at 10:30 a. m. Encamped twen- 
ty-seven miles from Savannah. 

December 8. Crossed Ebenezer near its mouth. Gunboat shelled 
our train. Crossed Kugler's creek. Camped at dark: moved back to 
Ebenezer. 

December 9. Struck rebel fort fifteen miles from Savannah, Lieu- 
tenant Coe, Battery I, Second Illinois, killed. No other casualties; 
camp in brush. 

December 10. Moved out and six miles from Savannah struck 
Twentieth Corps camped. Rinehart, Company G, found Palmet. fine 
bay stallion. 

December 11. Took position near Macon road. Brigade in re-' 
serve. 

December 12. Tore up railroad. 

December 13. McAllister stormed by Hazen's Second Division, 
Fifteenth Corps. That opens ccmniunication. 

December 14 to 19. Lying in reserve. A mail has gone out and 
one come in. 

December 19. Regimental inspection. 

December 20. In reserve still. 

SAVANNAH. 

December 21. Rode into Savannah. The city was evacuated this 
morning by Hardee, at 4 o'clock. Came out with Rider, Major Eighty- 
fifth Illinois; he has now resigned. 

December 22. Encamped on Savannah and Ogechee canal, in the 
swamp, one and a half miles from the city. 

December 23 to 31. The usual camp duties, varied by being per- 
formed through bog and fen, with a review of the corps by General 
Sherman in the city on the 27th. A year full of hard fighting, hard 



18(J5. January 1-31. 19 

marches and severe losses on both sides; but a year in which Rebellion 
has received many heavy blows. Atlanta was the entering wedge. 
■"The march to the sea"" fairly splits the Confederacy, and now comes 
our busiest, mayhap, our bloodiest days. 

January 1, 180-5. Captain Summers and Lieutenant Ray mustered. 

January 1 to 12. Captain James, Captain Lane, Lieutenant Arm- 
strong, mustered in; also Lieutenant Duff. 

January 13. Broke camp, moved into the city; lay around loose all 
day. 

January 14. 8 a. m. Picket Cherokee hill. "Information from the 
front." 

January 15. Not relieved. Nice picketing. 

January 16. Relieved by troops Third Division, Fourteenth Corps, 
Captain Gorsuch, Thirty-eighth O. V. L 

January 17. Inspection. Brevet Brigadier General Fearing com- 
mands our brigade. 

January 18. Half freezing around the suburbs of Savannah. 

January lij. Orders to move to-morrow. 

CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. 

January "20. Broke camp in the city and moved nine miles out to 
Pooler's Station. Rain; bad roads. 

January 22. No move; still wet, disagreeable weather. 

January 23. H and E relieved; rain. 

January 24. Not so disagreeable; no rain; marching orders 7 a. m. 
to-morrow. 

January 25. Good road for ten miles. Dinner, "Jack"' choked. 
Camp at midnight in open field, facing east by northeast. Captain Swift 
on duty. Tent facing south. Six miles from Springfield. 

January 26. March at 7 a. m. Cross Little Ebenezer forenoon. 
Through Springfield; few shots across a stream; camp a mile from town. 
Swift A. A. A. G. Cold, clear. Big supper. 

January 27. Not well. Fifty-second and Eighty-fifth, rear guard. 
Only two miles by 4 p. m. Wade Ebenezer river. Hardy fell in! Four 
miles to camp. Good fire. Tent pitched. Fodder plenty. Horses hun- 
gry. Good camp at dusk. Sit and talk late. Subject, '"The old men." 

January 28. Move at 8 a. m. Brigade in center; camp at noon 
above Sister's ferry in open cornfield. Sid digs a well instanter, p. m. 
late. Hill has three visitors. They take a drink. Expect to lie here 
two or three days. Cool; clear. 

January 29 and 30. Simply in camp. 

January 31. No movement. Night order to report 6 a. m. to-mor- 
row to take command of fatigue party. Torpedo blew up a soldier to- 
day. 



20 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

February 1. Report as ordered. Two hundred men from Divi- 
sion. Cross Savannah river. The whole day's work, in water to the 
knees, lost by bad engineering. 

February 2. Regiment on picket on the Augusta road. Good 
weather. Easy duty. Jack had pine smoke washed out of his hair. Ate 
heartily and stood quietly by himself. 

February 3. Relieved by One Hundred and Twenty-first O. V. I, 
Major Robinson. 

February 4. Fatigue detail from regiment over Savannah, under 
command of Major Thomas, Eighty-sixth Illinois. 

February 5. Broke camp 12 m. March at 4 p. m. Cross pontoon 
at dusk. Camp facing north. 

February 6. In camp. Gasaway, Company B, taking smallpox. 
Rain; raw day. Clothing issued. Rode out a little; sick as a dog at 
night. 

February 7. A. M. Rain, cold. I don't feel well. We're lying still. 
Small mail received. P. M. No rain. Get my blouse belted. Smith 
scared at smallpox symptoms. Marching orders for 7 a. m. to-morrow. 

February 8. Train guard. Some bad road; corduroy a little. Eight 
miles to Brighton cross roads; town burned; encamped at 4 p. m. in 
edge of pine woods; camp of Third Division last night. Played .'Square 
four. 

February 9. March at 7 a. m. Center of brigade. Smith is well. 
Forage some. Bad spot for our dinner; been troops here before us; 
some of them didn't know we'd have to eat a meal by this swamp! 
Eighteen miles to-day; forty-eight miles from Augusta. Mustard spoon. 
Jack's left eye hurt last night. Dr. Simpson moves to Division Hospi- 
tal. Big fire; cold day and night. 

February 10. March at 6:30 a. m. Made twenty miles; camp seven 
and one-half miles from Barnwell. Passed to-day four streams and four 
churches. Antioch and Concord (Baptist), Halcyon, or Allendale 
(Campbellite Baptist), Gillet's (Methodist). Passed General Irvine's 
residence, burned down; slave prison close by. White flags hung out at 
a house near by the General's residence. This afternoon the scene of 
conflagration, right and left, front and rear, was like a patch from the 
eternal burnings. The smoke of their ruin ascends forever, or until 
they knock under. The country behind us is left a howling wilderness, 
an utter desolation. Amid all, I have never yet seen a school house or 
church on iire. They are held sacred from the torch, or abuse, by all 
our soldiers. Train and rear guard to-morrow. 

February 11. Boys burned a well while we were waiting this morn- 
ing by throwing into it straw, fire and lumber. Moved after the train at 
9 a. m. Four or five miles and stopped for dinner; Company C found 
rebel clothes. Crossed Irvine's creek and passed rebel earthworks on 
northern bank. Moved through Barnwell. Big sun dial by C. H. En- 



18G5, February 12-17. 31 

camped two miles from town, having crossed Turkey creek just as we 
left the place. Detailed to forage to-morrow. Instructed to start from 
right of Eighty-sixth Illinois at 5:30 and go to Williston on railroad. 
Old darkey talks of rebellion shrewedly. Distance to-day, ten miles. 

February 12. Foraged with indifferent success towards Ninety Six 
and on both sides of the line of march. The column made twenty miles 
through Williston to Davis or Gynyon's bridge over South Edisto river. 
I predict General Sherman will ride, a conqueror, through the streets ot 
Columbia, S. C. 

February 13, 8 a. m. Crossed, and followed corduroy for a mile 
through the swamp; then camped between two roads, one leading to — 
I don't know where — the other to Dean's swamp, thence to Horse's 
bridge. In an hour, moved to Sally's Dam, Dean's swamp, distance six 
miles. Camp by Sally's house. Said house, Doc Watson, Division sur- 
geon, tried to burn down, after ordering the road cleared of foragers 
and their wagons and tumbling oflf his horse. When reasoned with about 
burning or trying to burn the house, he said, "Get out of my way or I'll 
hit you wis my schtick." 

February 14. Reached North Edisto river at 11 a. m. Camped on 
a road leading up the river. Assembly suddenly sounded. Crossed im- 
mediately. In the hustle, left my sword. Sent Cahoo. Company H, for 
it. He found it bronzed by fire which had burned the grass where it 
was lying. Crossed this river on the remnant of Horse's bridge. I don't 
ride my horse over such a place again if it can be avoided. No dinner. 
Moved to within eighteen miles of Columbia. Rained and froze as it 
fell all the afternoon. Good quarters in a little time, with the rear tc 
the regiment. Distance, twenty-two miles to-day. 

February 15. Seven a. m. took the back track a mile and a half; 
filed right for Lexington; took Calk's ferry road, leaving Waters's ferry 
road; encamped twenty-two miles, as you walk, from last night's camp. 
I don't know where we are to-night; only guess we're some miles west 
by southwest of Lexington C. H. We marched this p. m. with a strong 
line of left flankers and a squad of rebels on our right between us and 
the First Division, Fourteenth A. C. Ten p. m. Foragers not in yet. 
Lieutenant Dufif and thirty-eight men lost or captured. Swift says we 
are fn'O miles from Lexington. 

February 16. Moved through Lexington. Crossed Twelve-mile 
creek twice, once on each side of town. Strange building on fire in the 
place! ! Camp for dinner near the Saluda river. Columbia in sight 
from hill in front. Some shelling going on over the river. Counter- 
marched, countermarched, countermarched, and encamped near Wise's 
ferry. 

February 17. In forenoon, crossed Saluda by pontoon and marched 
to Freshley's ferry. Broad river. Encamped on bank of the river. Fine 
view up the stream. Grass in camp caught fire; no damage. I have or- 
ders to forage to-morrow; start at daylight. 



22 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

February 18. Foraged in rear of First Division. Good success. 
Found brigade across the river; pontoon unfinished. They have had 
good forage luck on east side of the river to-day; butter, ilour, meat and 
mules. Captain Thomas and Sergeant Roe drew prices!. Description 
would not look well in ink, or sound well in polite society. Cross to the 
regiment at 10 p. m. 

February 19. Move three miles this morning. Pass Freshley's, Dr. 
Smith's, Esq., and Dr. Glenn's and camp at Martin's Academy, an old 
building, near which the right of the Eighty-fifth Illinois rested. From 
here, without arms! ! we marched four miles to our left rear and tore up 
Spartanburg railroad. Returned to camp and, according to orders, pre- 
pared surplus baggage for destruction. 

February 20. At a. m. Surplus baggage committed to flames. 
Gave my wall tent to General Fearing for a fly. Camp about noon at 
Ebenezer church, Little river. Night, detailed to command ninety 
mounted foragers; stock and equipments yet to be captured. I'll have 
fifty men to-morrow, but the stock will be drawn from the brigade, prin- 
cipally. 

February 21. Crossed Kincaid's bridge before daylight. Pushed 
straight for Winnsboro. Captured the town and ran into General Geary, 
who stole all my forage. Broke away for White Oak Station, up the 
railroad; ran into the cavalry. Started late for the Division. Passed 
through Winnsboro again, in the night, and camped on the first stream 
south. Division, I learn, is on the Monticello road. Ran into Kilpat- 
rick to-day. 

February 22. Through White Oak to Blackstock's depot, having 
sent yesterday's forage to the brigade. Saw General Davis at Black- 
stock's. Via White Oak to Wateree church, Wateree creek. First camp 
with brigade. Negro Sam from Adger's. 

February 23. Crossed Foster's bridge and moved straight to Dies 
cross roads, sending Cantrell to Rossville P. O. Followed Kilpatrick to 
Rocky Mount P. O. Catawba river. Slow camping. Staff lazy. Rocky 
creek in front of camp. Here Mr. Cantrell recants; somewhat boozy. 
He don't want to receive orders. All right, my fine fellow. Ran into 
Kilpatrick. 

February 24. Crossed Catawba by pontoon, Kingsberry ferr}', at 
daylight: mud and rain. Oh! My! How gloomy! Secured Cunning- 
ham's Mills, Cedar creek; camp for the night. I divide the mill with 
Major McDonald, First Brigade. I don't like to act the hog at any 
time. We shall see if they think one good turn deserves another, here- 
after. 

February 25. Batcheler brought a wagon for meal this morning. 
Rode into camp this evening, taking eighteen bushels, making to-day 
forty-five bushels for the brigade. Dark as Egypt, coming out again. 
Rain and mud are awful. 



18(35, February 2(;^AIarch 9. 23 

February "2iJ. Sent in twenty-five bushels of meal and sent Captain 
Yates, Eighty-fifth, for meat. The country poor as p3verty. Brigade 
still corduroying the hills and hollows this side of the river to get the 
train across. 

February 27. Sent in twenty-five bushels of meal, and meat, and 
sent Twenty-second for meat. Mill broke last night; staid up till 1 
•o'clock repairing. Skirmish across river about noon to-day. 

February 28. Old mill broke again last night. Thomas and I 
worked on it till 2 o'clock this morning. Rode into camp and found 
marching orders. Left the mill. FoTowed the Division and camped 
Avith it to-morrow (?) night. 

March 1. Encamped on Little Lynch's creek, near a store and cross 
roads. Crossed Hanging Rock creek to-day and moved up the steep hill 
before dinner taken, where the three tall men and one lone woman staid. 

March 2. Pushed forward by way of Laxahan, alias Hickory Head 
P. O., to Lynch's creek to secure ]\IcManus bridge. Left Captain Smi h. 
Eighty-sixth, at the bridge and foraged beyond Five Fork church and 
to the right. Visited a parsonage. Counterpane brought in by one of 
the men. Returned to Division on Lynch's creek. Struck Kilpatrick 
again to-day. 

March 3. Struck cavalry again this morning: filed right; passed 
bad swamp. OfT to Richardson's Mills. Black creek; Captain Thomas 
runs a mill three miles below. Belated, Mt. Croghan in the night. Rode 
late, very tired. Camp five miles from Chesterfield. 

Alarch 4. Passed through Chesterfie'.d just as the rear of Twen- 
tieth Corps moved out. Took Wadesboro road two miles; filed left and, 
five or six miles, struck Division. Caught brigade at noon. They had 
thought we were captured. Cantrell ran into Wheeler yesterday and 
lost four men. We had not been disturbed. Encamped with Division 
on Great Pedee, two and one-half miles below Sneedsboro, N. C. 

March o. Sent detachments for forage for Brigade Headquarters 
and selves. Laying pontoon. Resting. Cavalry came in to-night. 

March (x Through the day, no move. At night, slipped Captain 
Yates. Captain Harbor. Captain Smith and Lieutenant Graves, with 
their men, across with the cavalry. 

March 7. Crossed with Cap'ains Thomas and Cantrell at 11 a. m. 
Pontoon broke at daylight and delayed us. Reached Covington's :\Iills. 
Solaman's creek. Found Captain Carson quitting the mills; determined 
to run them. Some rebels about. Saw the afflicted! ! yellow gal. 

March 8. Ground at the mill all night. Received note from Mrs. 
Covington. Sent her a guard. Follow Division at 11 a. m. Rain. 
Camp where the negro came to me with the ox team, rain still, on the 
Rockingham and Fayetteville road. 

;\Iarch 9. Passing First and Third Divisions. Found General's 
belt by Headquarters First Division. After crossing Drowning creek or 



24 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Lumber river, took the old chicken or dirt road to Fayetteville. Troops 
and trains on plank road from two to five miles to the right. We en- 
camped, late in the night, on little Rockfish, where the second rozin mill 
had been burned. Caesar! how it pours! We are three or four miles 
ahead of any column. 

March 10. Built two bridges, after crossing Rockfish, and skir- 
mished within five miles of Lafayette. Found fifteen hundred to two 
thousand rebels. Withdrew nicely to Buckhead creek, I think it is. 
Saw and talked with General Slocum. Saved Hunter's Brigade. En- 
camped on Hunter's right front, outside of his works. 

March IL Obtain permission to take the advance. Halted by 
Baird's Provost Marshal at six mile post. Sent by the General to the 
road on the right. Rebels fired a few shots. Moved in line on Bryant's 
house. Third Division passed on to the city. Struck ofif to the right 
for a mill; already taken. Came back; took dinner at Mr. Currie's with- 
in three miles of town. Got novellette, "Ada Leigh." Keep out of the 
city; divide my force. Myself with Cantrell's and Graves's men pushed 
up the river and struck Kilpatrick again. Saw loyal North Carolinian, 
Mr. McNeill. Camp with brigade. 

March 12. Detachments out for forage; Captain Yates secures a 
mill in Seventeenth Corps. Issue of meal. Ayers shoes my horse and 
Batch draws rations, in a horn! ! for my mounted men. Marching or- 
ders; send for Yates. Follow Division across Cape Fear river at dark. 
Camp on high bank north of Lock's creek. 

March 13. Skirmish under direction of General Morgan. Drive 
the enemy from four stockades, or barricades, a distance of three miles. 
Three regiments, First Division, Vandeveer's Brigade, came out and 
drove them from one more barricade and could go no farther. Return 
with some forage to camp. Camp behind Brigade Headquarters on 
northwest side of Lock's creek, right at the bridge. 

March 14. In camp. Sent up the river for forage. Captain 
Thomas very sick. Found "Charley," back sore though! 

March 15. Took river road for Averysboro with Kilpatrick. Halted 
for a bite at Silver run. Cavalry passing. Here plank and dirt roads 
came together. Moved with Kilpatrick till nearly night; tried for horse 
feed. Had to come back to Taylor's Hole creek to find any. Camped 
on south side. Rainy. Kilpatrick skirmished a little before camping. 
An infantry brigade has come up to support him since dark. Muddy. 

AVERYSBORO. 

March 16. Kilpatrick fought; Twentieth Corps fought; Fourteenth 
Corps fought, about three miles from Averysboro. Foragers at Smith's 
ferry, opposite mouth of Lower Little river. Evening, ask Fearing to 
relieve me. Refused. I can't tell why. Captain Summers, (Captain 
French, Eighty-sixth), and several men of the regiment wounded. 



1865, March 17-23. 35 

March 17. Enemy gone. Forage east of Cape Fear river. At sug- 
gestion of General Davis, follow Division at 2:30 p. m. Leave our 
wagon at rebel works; pass Twentieth Corps train. Cross Black river. 
Mules broke bridge. Stand three-quarters of an hour in water with our 
horses. Camp in the pine grove. Sent General Morgan meat. Meat in 
abundance. 

March 18. Skirmished all day, driving the enemy on the main 
Goldsboro road. Got shelled. Mules driven back. First Brigade 
routed enemy. We follow, driving them live miles. Found them in 
strength; remained in their front from two to three hours. It was Wade 
Hampton. Returned to Division, encamped on the ground where rebel 
artillery was this morning. I report to General Fearing what I think is 
in front and predict that the enemy will open artillery when the line at 
which we were shooting during this p. m. is carried. He does not seem 
to think so. We shall see. 

BENTONVILLE. 

March 19. Enemy still there. First Division, Carlin's, chargeG 
splendidly. Rebels opened as I expected: flanked First Division and 
routed it and, in a way. routed Third Brigade, Second Division. It held 
on, however. Some of the Twentieth Corps finally repulsed. I obtained 
permission to join my regiment in the fray, leaving foragers with Kil- 
patrick's cavalry. Captain Yates in command. We lay all night in the 
works where I found the regiment. 

March 20. Moved into works in front, built yesterday. Wounded 
rebels, one officer, two men. About noon, move forward to line occu- 
pied by Second Brigade and held by them yesterday. Burying rebel d;ad. 
Skirmishing and some artillery in front of First Brigade. Here we slept 
all night. 

March 21. Skirmish with the enemy from a position held by Col- 
onel Hobart's Third Division last night and left vacant this morning. 
A ticklish place, left flank of the regiment stuck at the enemy like a sore 
thumb. They charged to burn a house from which Twenty-second In- 
diana sharpshooters troubled their main line. Our skirmishers are 
driven in. I watch our left and remain on picket with Armstrong. Mc- 
Intire and sixty men, while the regiment puts up a main line in rear. 
No shelter; no sleep: rain; wet ground. 

March 22. Enemy gone at daylight. Rebel lieutenant captured. 
Went back for foragers after going over battleground. Moved with Di- 
vision to camp on south bank of Neuse river. Heard of McElravy 
through Batcheler, Twenty-fourth Corps lying here. Foragers camp, "I 
don't care a curse where," said Captain Burkhalter. 

GOLDSBORO. 
March 23. Traveled with regiment. Hurt Jack's back the day I 
came through Chesterfield, S. C, and shall not ride fast till he rests. 



26 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Sent foragers out in detachments. Cross the Neuse and find them at 
Little river. Pass the colored division on the hank of the Neuse. Cross 
Little river, northwest of. and near Goldsboro. Encamped, for the 
promised rest, on the right of the Third Division, facing northwest. For- 
agers in rear of brigade, near headquarters. They will soon be broken 
up — disbanded. 

March 24. Remained in camp. Sent Captain Thomas up Little 
river and Captain Yates northeast. Thomas chased by rebels; E. P. 
Smith, W. K. Shultz, Company G, missing; Yates in, all right. 

March 25. Foraging ten miles northeast toward Snow Hill. Among 
headwaters of Bear creek. Got horses, meat, meal, corn fodder. Reb- 
•els about. Captured one of Seventeenth and two of Twentieth Corps. 
Bryon Smith missing. Ran through fire coming back. In all right and 
shall go out again for anything save horse feed. William Driskell 
missing. 

March 2G. Resting from all labor. Heavy mail: first since lea\'ing 
Savannah, Ga. Uriah Martin missing. James Chance severely wounded. 
Bad handling. Sergeant Scott. Eighty-sixth Illinois. It occurred ten 
miles out on Nahunta road. 

March 27. Mail goes out 1 p. m. Sent Yates and Thomas for 
horse feed; came in O. K. Plaited horse tails and sunned myself like a 
huge serpent to-day. Beautiful weather. 

March 28. Rode into Goldsboro with Sergeants Maxon and ]\Iercer 
to look at the town. Rode out satisfied to return when I have business 
there. 

March 29. Lying in camp. Rumor that General J. C. Davis com- 
mands left wing. Wrote Sue congratulatory. Wrote Captain Roth' 
acker; enclosed com. bill. 

March 30. Turned over stock and disbanded mounted command. 
Yesterday's rumor untrue. Ofcrhcar! 

March 31. Cold, raw. Clancy goes home on thirty days" leave. 
Rumors of Richmond, Lee. marching in six days, etc. 

April 1. Last night about midnight was very much like the even- 
ing of March 5. 18G4, only much drunker and another man. This means 
Bucke, who came into my cpiarters in a maudlin condition from drink. 
I called him down and he came. 



It was a drunken tirade of which he to-day denied all knowledge or 
motive. 

Pleasant day. Dress parade 5 p. m. Grimes Acting Adjutant; did 
well. Rumored orders at hospital to prepare for sixty days" campaign. 
More clothing to-day. 

April 2. A quiet Sabbath; Grimes Acting Adjutant on parade 
again. 



1865. April 3-11. 27 

April 3. Inspection for condenina.ion. Captain Stinson, A. M. 
Band detiled for 3 o'clock this and two succeeding afternoons. P. M; 
Night went up and obtained an official report. "Favorable notice.' 
Swift tenders resignation. Detailed as president of military commis- 
sion; meet to-morrow. Corps Headquarters, to try Flannagan, Govern- 
ment employe, for murder. 

April 4. Attend commission a. m. P. M. nothing doing for war. 
of witnesses. 

Detail: Major Charles Edwards, One Hundred and Fifth O. V. I.; 
Captain Robert Hunter, Seventy-fourth O. V. I.: Captain M. H. Floyd, 
Seventy-fifth Indiana: Captain O. Watson. One Hundred and Thirteenth 
O. V. I. 

Third Division reviewed to-day by General Scholield. I have to- 
night faithfully transcribed from the seventieth to the seventy-sixth 
page. Aly notes were on scattered scraps. 

April 5. I\Iilitary commission failed to open proceedings. No wit- 
nesses. 

April 6. Petersburg and Richmond have fallen; twenty-five thou- 
sand prisoners and five hundred guns. Great rejoicing in our camps. 

April 7. Sergeant Harper took express goods of the regiment to 
town. Official news and confirmation of Grant's victory. Harper did 
not get off, goods left with a guard from the regiment. 

April 8. Captain Swift's resignation accepted at last. "CitizeiT 
Swift, by ." Harper ofif for Newbern. 

April 9. "How are you. lovely?" Captain Thomas" treat, punch. 
To march at 5 o'clock in the morning; the order received at 1 a. m. to- 
day. But little sleep to-night. Campaign from Goldsboro, N. C. 

LAST CAMPAIGN. 

April 10. Mcrvx a few minutes after 5 a. m. Owing to smoke and 
fog, got behind the Eighty-fifth, passed it and caught the One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth, after crossing Little river. 

P. M. fifteen miles from Goldsboro; support the One Hundred and 
Twenty-fifth. Skirmish on the Raleigh R. R. Charles W. Langley says 
left flank when he means right. Captains Thomas and Lane detailed 
to watch a crossing while the brigade withdraws from the station. At 
dark, return to the Division; enemy gone. "Camp on the left of the 
Eighty-fifth." Langley: "No. camp on the right of the Eighty-fifth." 
Tanner. In pine thicket; damp night. 

April 11. Advance of the brigade: move at 7 a. m. Third Division 
advance of the corps; satisfied with that. It's time they'd fight some. 
Crossed Moccasin creek, just outside of camp; saw mill above. Rebel 
works on west side. Skirmishing in front till 10 a. m., when all grows 
quiet. Corduroy two places to-day. At the first. General Morgan calls 
my left wing, "\^ou lazy men." Reach Smithfield early in the afternoon 
and go into camp three-quarters mile north. 



.28 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

April 12. Cheer after cheer this morning. An order read from 
General Davis containing the terms of Lee's surrender at Appomattox 
C. H., Va. Glory to God and a brave country! The brigade moves at 
noon. Regiments directed to remain in camp for further orders. 

Four p. m. foUov^^ the corps train, crossing the Neuse by pontoon in 
the edge of town. Road very difficult. Reach camp, Gully's cross 
roads, at 2:30 a. m and received orders to move at 6:30 a. m. 

RALEIGH. 

April 13. Move on time, reach Raleigh at 5 p. m. Splendid march 
of the regiment through the city. We took dinner to-day four miles east 
by south of the city and now camp for the night one mile west. Re- 
ceived the order while on the march to-day to respect Governor and 
State officials. 

April 14. Move at 7 a. m. Pass Asbury and Page's (Cary?) Sta- 
tions. Leave the G. & N. C. R. R. to the right at this latter station. 
After crossing Swift creek, took dinner close by a fine spring. Rebels 
came in carrying forage with our boys. Camp at night one mile west of 
Jones' cross roads. Sent out foragers to-day. Wagered oysters with 
Thomas that we will not be in Tennessee in thirty days. The marching 
orders were received at 4 this morning. Pleasant camp at 4 p. m. 

April 15. Moved at 5 a. m. on the Haywood road. Camp at Aven's 
ferry. Cape Fear river, at 2:80 p. m. Rain to-day hard. General Mitch- 
ell lost General Morgan and the First Brigade and led his Second and 
our Third Brigades on a wild goose chase till he found them at the ferry. 
Hudson, Jeffries, Day ,and Miller missing since last night. They were 
foraging. Sergeant Best missing to-night. Sergeant Lud Mills chased 
by the Johnnies to-day. Best was in the same neighborhood. Uniform 
order, Davis; subsistence order, Slocum; thirty days yet, he says. For- 
age order, Langley. Rumors of Johnson's surrender to Sheridan. 
Bosh, / gtiess. 

April 16. Bright, beautiful morning. "Nice day?"' "Yeth, it ith 
tho, a right nithe day." Eight a. m. Bucke goes foraging. Twelve m. 
Thompson Miller returned; been lost, not a prisoner. Rumors of John- 
son's surrender. Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps moving back to 
Raleigh; Twentieth imder orders, etc. P. M. No movement to-day. 
Ed. Cook, Fifth O. V. C, still with Company G. Bucke returned from 
Haywood. This is Abernethy's ferry. Negroes say, "Aven's done 
dead!" Rumors various and conflicting to-night. To-morrow, we'll 
see. 

April 17. All quiet in camp through the forenoon; clear and pleas- 
ant. Pontoon train moved from its position, five or six miles in rear, 
down to the Cape Fear at this point. • No rumors of any force. Wheel- 
er said to be killed. Kilpatrick and Stoneman fight. Sheridan and Sev- 
enteenth Corps in line. P. M. Finish reading "Old North State," by 



18G5, April 18-"^0. 39 

Caruthers. Policing camp. Eight o'clock, surrender and commissioner 
rumors. Eight forty, Slocum's order, Rochester A. A. G. Schurz Chief 
of StafT. 

PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION. 
April 18. Rumors of the President's assassination. Captain Thomas 
and I burn the big brush heap. Lieutenant Conlee, Provost Marshal, 
Captain Cantrell, A. D. C, brigade. No more foraging, after the detail 
had started under Captain Scott, Eighty-iifth Illinois. Arms stacked. 
P. M. Pleasant day. Five thirty, Sherman's order confirming Lincoln's 
death in a theatre, Washington, on the evening of the 11th inst. at the 
hands of a man who uttered, "Sic Semper Tyrannis." Davis' order 
against foraging pending negotiations between Sherman and Johnson. 
Same as Slocum's forenoon. Forage and pass circular at dark. Rain, 
thunder, lightning. My definition of a rebel posted on a tree, 
"Religion's most abhorred, 
Perdition's most forlorn, 
God's most abandoned, 
Hell's most damned." 
It is from Milton's Paradise Lost. 

Lieutenant Mclntire closeted to-day to escape capture. Regiment 
turned out twice to-day without arms. Surplus mules turned over to- 
night. Eight o'clock, raining hard. 

April 19. Morning clear. Wagon sent out for forage; clean up 
quarters. Work on headquarters contagious. Rumor that the report of 
the President's death is a hoax. Hope so. Reading Ticknor's "Life of 
Prescott"; very attractive work. Emory Smyth, G. Byron Smith, K. 
and others heard from. Will Shultz, G, supposed to have been killed 
March 24th. Mail received to-day. Everything is at a stand, seemingly. 
Negotiations still pending at Raleigh. The war is over or some crisis is 
at hand. Deems, C, says McKinzie's, K, wife has procured a divorce. 
Doubt between McK. and myself as to who was the author of "Within 
this awful volume lies, etc." 

April 20. Morning between cloud and sunshine. President's dsath 
confirmed. It was on the 14th, not the 11th inst. Order 58, Headquar- 
ter's Military Division Mississippi, April 19th, "Hostilities suspended. 
A permanent peace from the Potomac to the Rio Grande to be ratified; 
to be conducted to our homes in a very few days." Order read to regi- 
ment in line. Three time three, for our own and the nation's honor: for 
peace and our homes! ! ! Reading Prescott; a bright example of the 
power of the human will. Evening, walked with Captain Thomas down 
to the ferry. Fourteenth Michigan coming back to this side. ^larch at 
5:30 a. m. to-morrow. Going to Holly Springs, fourteen miles west 
northwest. I suppose we shall camp there to await the full and final 
ratification of peace measures. Game of four square: Thomas and 
Hutchison against Brice and myself. 



-30 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

April 21. Moved on time this morning. Beat tlie battery. IL 
passed us at the first halt. Cross White Oak creek. What a strange 
feeling that we are not moving to battle! The clash of arms is hushed 
in the first quiet breathing of peace and, I hope, forever with this peo- 
ple. Many pleased citizens, male and female, along our way through the' 
camps of the First and Third Divisions, Fourteenth Corps. Met a few 
rebel soldiers going home. Camp one-half mile north of Holly Springs 
High School building. Gravelly ground. Team mules gone back to- 
Aven's ferry for our forage. Citizens getting their stock from the army. 
Rain this evening. Reading, and think still more of Ticknor's Prescott. 

April 2'2. Clear Colonel's mare and colt. General Morgan around 
looking for Holly Spring. Boys policing some. Rumored that we 
move toward Richmond next Tuesday. Porter, Mcintosh and Cook 
start to Raleigh; the two first to look after Shultz; the last to rejoin his 
command. Fifth O. V. C. Still reading Prescott. If weather permits,. 
must do heavy policing to-morrow. Adjutant Mann, One Hundred and 
Twenty-fifth Illinois, returns from New York. Doc. Mercer's mother 
leaving him to wait while she was fastened up in the back-lot! J'idc 
Deems, Company C. How Mercer came to be called Doc. Hutchin- 
son, James, Dufif and myself make the game. Thinking much of home. 

April 23. A quiet Sunday. Heavy rumors about resumption of hos- 
tilities. President Johnson refusing to ratify terms of peace. Some 
men blue. Adjutant Mann called for an hour this p. m. Jimmy Day 
arrives, a recruit for Company F. Notice of Captain Summers' death on 
the 16th inst. 

April 24. Still a violent rumor of following Johnson with twenty- 
four days' rations. Masury returns. Indorse his resignation. J. 
Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin. Police camp to-day. Logs to burn 
yet. Finished Prescott yesterday. 

April 25. Received a Raleigh paper. Not an indicative word. Ar- 
range mess account with Masury, $58.4(i his part. Porter and Mcintosh*" 
return; they found Shultz's grave. They passed two Divisions, Twen- 
tieth Corps marching this way. Seventeenth Corps moving up the rail- 
road and thus has ended our bright hopes and anticipations of peace. 
How dark the world grows to one who loves not a soldier's life! I con- 
gratulate myself on having written nothing home, although I firmly be- 
lieved and yet believe there will be no more hard fighting, but how 
gloomy a prospect have these people if we must follow Johnson's armyT 
Evening late. Orders to march at 5:30 a. m. All manner of rumors 
about Johnson's whereabouts, force and purposes. 

April 26. One o'clock a. m. Marching orders countermanded. 
What's up? Guard got band up at three, then told them he guessed or- 
der was countermanded. Colonel Langley and stafif at dress parade. 
Band balked. Hofele, Rheuark, I, and Vandyne. F, restored to duty by 
General Morgan. Reading "Ellen Percy." Rumors abundant. 



1865, April 2:— May 2. 31 

April 21. Reading "Percy." Dress parade. General Mitchell 
brings news of the surrender and our prospective march to Alexandria, 
Va. Hallelujah! Peace on earth and good will to men. Duff and I 
deal. The mysterious jar; its contents. Took Bucke home. 

HOMEWARD BOUND. 

April 28. Official confirmation of peace. Our faces homeward at 
5:3U a. m. to-morrow. How the mother heart will almost burst with 
joy! Our march to be through Kelvin's Grove, Wilton and Oxford to 
Boydton, thence to Richmond; fifteen miles per day. No foraging; no 
straggling. Hutchinson, Lane, Pierce and myself. Rode twice over to 
Brigade Headquarters to-day. Corps Headquarters moved to city, fif- 
teen miles, where we shall be to-morrow night, Deo volente. D and I on 
picket. Two companies each day for the last five days. 

April 29. Move on time; cut One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illi- 
nois ofif. Let it pass soon. Halt at noon about one mile south of Mor- 
risvill.e Station, N. C. & R. R. R., twelve or thirteen miles from Raleigh. 
Nice camp. Black horse found to be blind. "Standard says Herald 
criticizes Sherman's action in the late surrender and says he has be- 
clouded his fame. P. M. Turn over ammunition, guns, axes, spades, 
and wagon goes to Raleigh. 

April 30. Inspection and muster at 7:30 a. m. Order to march at 
'5:30 to-morrow morning. Turn over every surplus animal. Wagon re- 
turns with forage. Herald's critic in Raleigh Progress. Despise it. 
See Major Hamilton, One Hundred and Seventy-eighth O. V. I. Dress 
parade; Langley's address. Signed his recommendation for Brigadier. 
Will Hamilton supposed to be in the Navy. Mail to-night. 

May 1. Move on time. At IMorrisville Station, after crossing some 
creek, took charge of train with Fifty-second and Eighty-fifth Illinois. 
Rear of the army leaving this country. Moved over good road till noon. 
Three wheels broke; two wagons upset. Detained an hour at noon. 
Crossed Neuse at Fishdam. Four p. m. encamped two miles north. In 
at dusk. Twenty-two miles. Splendid weather. Sandy soil. Oak and 
pine. Trouble finding camp. i\Iarch at 5 a. m. to-morrow. McKenzie, 
K, sent back. 

May 2. Move on time. Had to pass Eighty-sixth Illinois. Rode 
Charley till noon, first time. Back not well. Cross Tar river at Ro- 
bard's bridge, at 11 a. m. Took dinner at Hatcher's run, one and a 
quarter miles from town. Afternoon, passed in good style, through Ox- 
ford. First Division, Fourteenth Corps, camped here last night and we 
are just on the other side of the branch to-night, two miles from town. 
Fishing creek between here and town. Officers going back by twos and 
more to see the lively Oxford lassies. Fine day for marching. Rode 
Jack since dinner. Twenty miles to-day; good road; train in by 5 p. m. 
To-morrow 5 a. m. Of one hundred and ten men who went from Ox- 



32 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

ford into the rebel army, but ten live to tell the tale. This I predicted 
as we came through town from the scarcity of young men. 

May 3. Move on time. Ran into Third Division, Twentieth A. C. 
Let it pass. Cut across and headed them off again in going about eight 
miles. Agreed to let them pass again. It was Tabb creek we crossed' 
by Oxford yesterday; the camp was on Fishing creek. Passed Midway. 
Darkey said, "You all killed 'em all." Encamp two miles from Taylor's 
ferry, Roanoke river. Rode Charley; eighteen miles to-day. Camp in 
wheat field; march at 4 a. m. to-morrow, promptly. A darkey says, 
"General Holmes" went from Clarkesville. Sleep without tent. We 
crossed the N. C. and Va. line to-day at a blacksmith shop at 4:1G p. m. 
This day one year ago we left Lee at Gordon's Mills, Ga. Timber, oak, 
walnut, hickory, poplar. Nice day. Two Union sentiments, one Sher- 
man sentiment! 

May 4. Move on time. Cross the Roanoke, six hundred and eighty 
feet wide, on pontoon, at the ferry. About 9 a. m. passed through Boyd- 
ton. Lots of negroes and women, but I think Oxford's has also been 
Boydton's fate. Crossed Allen's creek; horse flinching; through Greens- 
boro. Encamped at 5 p. m. at Barry's bridge, near Finch's Mills, South 
fork, Meherrin river. Made twenty-six and one-half miles to-day. A 
fine college building in Boydton, but no school. Greensboro is no 
town at all. Benton has gone to R. Q. M. Stokes; feed out. Talk with 
Bucke till 10. Ordered to march at 5 a. m. to-morrow. What a pleas- 
ant campaign we are having! Saw some sentiments to-day; Union sen- 
timents, too, I guess. Band played for them; good looking; three or 
four in one place asked us for the music; two in another. Li Union, 
played without the asking. 

May 5. Move on time; Second Brigade slow. Pass Finch's ]^Iills; 
ford the stream and cross on logs. Two miles, we come to north fork, 
Meherrin, Hawkin's ford. Bridge swept away some years ago. North 
fork, the larger; steep hill on each side. Within five miles crossed 
Love's bridge at Love's Mills, Reedy creek. Passed St. Paul's (brick) 
Church and took dinner four miles from Nottaway river. P. M. crossed 
Fall's bridge at William's (Virginia) Mills. First Division camp, last 
night. Encamped at 5 p. ni. on a branch of Little Nottaway, about four 
miles from the Court House. We passed through Lewistowm Court' 
House of Lunenburg. Band with the Eighty-fifth Illinois in advance. 
Made twenty-eight miles to-day; been in three coimties; troops worn 
out. McKenzie re-detailed. Bah! "Half hunter, half setter," Jones, F. 

On May 2. Thunder, lightning and rain a. m. 

May 6. Move on time. The name of the branch we leave is Modest 
creek. Cross Little Nottaway; through Nottaway C. H.; small place. 
Crossed Little creek. Buckskin creek, through Dennisville, "Cap'n Jack- 
son's"; took dinner. P. M. passed Bridgeworth's (brick) Mills, Beaver 
pond creek, and crossing Smack's creek: turning off the Bevil's bridge 



18G5, May T-lO. 33 

road, encamped at sundown by Good's bridge, Appomattox river, after 
a day's march without a parallel in the history of the regiment, thirty- 
five miles! Saw where Sheridan had headed Lee, near Amelia C. H. 
Baldwin scared a wench with his bugle till she said. "Oh! Jesus!" Popu- 
lar sayings on the march: "Take ofif your hat and halloo for Sherman"; 
"Grab a root." It was Second Brigade man. April 30th, who said, "I 
have for my country fallen; who will care for mother now? (hie)." 

March at 5 a. m. Booth said to be dead. Saw some of the Sixth 
Corps who said it is thirty miles from where this bridge was to Rich- 
mond. 

APPOMATTOX. 

May 7. On time, cross the Appomattox; through Colesville to 
S-wift creek. Took dinner near a branch. Band played for the old lady 
who "Wanted to know if you all tore up South Ca'liny." "Grab a root." 
Rode Jack this p. m. Rumors about transports; Fourteenth Corps beat 
to Richmond, etc. Passage with Adjutant Mann. Camp five miles from- 
Richmond, after crossing Falling creek. Country for two days good, 
not materially injured by the war. Land poorly cultivated and to death. 
Timber plenty; oak, pine, poplar, walnut, etc. Not a valuable, but de- 
cent growth. A darkey hard of hearing! where onions and potatoes 
were selling by the roadside. Twenty-five miles to-day; not so much 
straggling. 

RICHMOND. 

May 8. In the morning, move the camp across the road and front 
the other way. New York papers received. Bucke and Hill go to Rich- 
mond. Advance of Twentieth Corps at Chesterfield. C. H. Richmond 
Whig. Whiskey issued this morning. Heap of talk before I got up. 
Dr. Hooton back this evening; Harper's Weekly, mild on Sherman; 
Frank Leslie, bitter. 

May 0. In camp. Hooton came around; looks well. Whiskey is- 
sued; good many drunk men, especially noisy. Apply to send Bucke for 
baggage to Nashville. Tenn. Received notice of Clancy's illness. His 
brother visits the regiment from Twenty-fourth A. C. Bought pies, $L 
Damp day; Cahoo whips Miller, H. Jefifries goes for the sutler of Sec- 
ond Brigade. March in review to-morrow. Halleck. Procured crape 
for colors and officers. McKenzie stops with me a while in the evening 
discussing— Medical board making lists of sick for transportation to 
Alexandria, Va. Agree to give Langley our band for the right at Wash- 
ington. March at o:30 a. m. to-morrow; order countermanded: go to 
sleep. 

May 10. Cloudy morning. Sick sent off. We'll probably march 
sometime to-day. Bucke went to Nashville and Chattanooga. Orders 
to move to-morrow, 7 a. m. Sick returned: no review to-morrow. Sher- 
man can't see it. 



34 Fifty-second O. \". I. 

May 11. Sick sent off; move on time; pass a Division at arms in 
Manchester. Cross pontoon, Belle Isle, enter Richmond; Castle Thun- 
der and Libby oft' to the right a stone's throw; pass burnt district, on 
our left; Washington's monument; Lee's residence. Saw General 
Michie. Took dinner outside the defenses of Richmond. Sheridan was 
inside a year ago. The city is filthy, looks old. but has not suffered as 
some cities have done during the war. Crossed Brook (swamp) creek 
and Chickahominy. Passed Peach Turnout and encamped about two 
miles from Hanover. Storm came on; rained hard. Fly leaked; lived 
through it. Langley ordered the band out this morning. I made no 
agreement of that kind: and do not like the assumption of authority. 
The band is strictly regimental, in every sense, and the brigade comman- 
der should make no orders taking it from its owners. Virginia Central 
R. R. 

May 21. Lie still until noon; crossed Mechump creek; troops on 
railroad bridge. Hanover Court House; small brick building, erected 
in 1735, where Patrick Henry is said to have delivered his address 
against the clergy. Halt here two hotirs. Corps Headquarters move 
out. General Sherman stopped here last night. About a mile this side, 
cross Pamunky, Page's bridge. The stream on a high and rising. Halt; 
fine view. Made eight miles and encamped. Single line, open field. 
We have seen the grandest country in the South for two days now. 
Camp on Brookfield farm. 

May 13. Found, on waking at 5 a. m. marching orders for 7 o'clock; 
five companies to report to Captain Craft, Division Provost Marshal. 
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois reports for train guard. Gave it 
ninety wagons. Took the remainder with the left wing. Saw rebel 
lieutenant where wagons procured forage. Fine view over North Anna 
to railroad. Cars going north. Struck Fredericksburg road out one 
and a half miles. Bad track for three or four miles; good country bttt 
not grand, then good sandy track. Pass ]\It. Carmel Church and find 
the Division at dinner. Saw two soldiers loading a woman on a mule. 
Pass through Chilesburg — crossed railroad at Chesterfield Station a. m. 
Camp one mile northwest of town at Rehoboth M. E. C. S.. at half-past 
six. Made twenty-two miles. "Jericho." Fallen timber. Nate Gossett 
saw a Mrs. Chandler (Terrell) down at North Anna R. R. bridge to-day. 
She knows my father, the Crews and Ladds and is a violent rebel. Good 
weather; passable country. Oak. pine, beech, etc. Direct R. Q. M. as 
to the issue of forage to accommodate the Dr. (Hill). INIarch at 7 a. m. 

May 14. Found a terrapin in bed with me at half-past five a. m. 
Move on time. One of the boys to old darkey at roadside, "Good morn- 
ing, old man." "Yes. sah! Yes. sah!" Cross Hanna's run and another 
branch. As before: "How far is it to the river?"' "Is no rivah about 
heyah." "I know there is. you d — d old skeezics. you're lyin' now." 
Took dinner in rear of the Twenty-second Indiana, after crossing quite 
a stream. Rails taken by men to make fires ordered back. Determine 



180.-). :\1ay l.VKi. ;35 

to take Surgeon Hill to task to-night on account of his tongue and if 
necessary, arrest him. Camp on Culpepper road after passing a cross 
roads. We passed the residence of the rebel General Rosser, after leav- 
ing camp, before Alechump creek on the r2th inst. Left Sherman's and 
Slocum's Headquarters at Chilesburg this morning (Sabbath). Made 
twenty miles to-day. We passed Wallace Church; halted by it; ""Built 
1850." Also Good Hope, ""Built by A. J. Nelson, 1860." Former brick, 
latter frame. Caught glimpses of the Blue Ridge in the smoky distance; 
country rough. Pine, oak, chestnttt, beech, ash, and underbrush. Bald- 
win sounded sick call on the march; regarded by the boys as a good joke. 
Camp, since learned, near Plentiful creek. Sent for Surgeon Hill and 
inquired as to the reported use by him of certain disrespectful expres-' 
sions. He denies any recollection or malicious ptxrpose. This was the 
close of the conversation: "'Did you say these Headquarters have been 
a d — d swindling institution?" His answer was an emphatic, "No." 
I informed him that no man could go free and use such language here. 
I think he had whiskey in him while talking this evening. Nice day, 
evening cloudy. March at 6:30 a. m. to-morrow. 

May lo. Move on time; a little before. Cross Plentiful creek at 
Taylor's Mills; small stream, two miles out road, from left. Pass Chap- 
ter Church or Lynch's Chapel. Ran into Third Division four miles out, 
leaving its camp on Horse foremost creek. Road to left, cross roads 
from right rear to left. Rough country; oak, scrub pine, chestnut and 
tmderbrush. all heavy. Terry creek; women, mill and pond.' Music; 
branch with rocky, noisy bed. Splendid weather. Camp for dinner 
north of Little Black Walnut creek, first stream from left to right for 
sometime. Blue Ridge all along. Splendid valley over ^lountain river; 
much cleared land; soil, medium. Grand scenery, valley of Rapidan. 
Pass Corps Headquarters, high and dry. Wade the river at Raccoon 
Ford Mills. Dry of? and go into camp north of Summer Duck creek on 
Brandy Station road. Blue Ridge in front of us. Glorious sunset. 
Chestnut hill was in sight to our left this afternoon; a lone tree on its 
top. James, Duiif; Hutch and self; came out ahead. March at 7 a. m. to- 
morrow. "Strahange and remaharkable dreaheam." Our camp is oh 
Nawles' farm, nine hundred acres; Kilpatrick has fought here. South 
hills all fortified. 

Alay 16. On time. Bad road to Potatoe river. Soldier's grave, 
next slope facing south. Three graves. Pass Stevensburg. Scenery 
the climax of all I have seen. Greater portion of Culpepper County. 
Hail Columbia played for John Minor Botts, who has more rails on his 
farm than all Culpepper besides and who will, in the end, if he lives long 
enough, be Governor of the Old Dominion. A branch from right to left. 
Cross [Mountain creek on a huge bridge. Ford Rappahannock at Kel- 
ly's. Dinner on the right bank of a run at midday! Pass Third Divi- 
sion, cross three or four small branches and camp on a run. Made 
twenty miles; Blue Ridge all along. March at o a. m. to-morrow. 



36 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

BULL RUN. 

May 17. Move on time. Cross two streams. Cedar creek. Struck 
railroad at thirty-eight mile post. Passed four railroad bridges, one 
wagon bridge over third stream. Took dinner at last bridge. Men 
straggled; day hot. March hard. Camp on "Bull Run'' at Mitchell's 
Ford. Made twenty-four miles, a slavish day. Blue Ridge. Road 
crossing and recrossing railroad all day. March at 5 a. m. to-morrow. 

May 18. On time. Pass through Fairfax: cross Accotinck creek 
and camp at noon in a point of woods south of pike. Dufif and several 
of the boys affected by drinking stolen medicated whiskey. Jack Mar- 
tin. Company H, left his shoes behind. Remain here till morning. Rain 
this evening: wet night. 

May 19. March at 8 a. m. Warm. Pass Cloud's Mill on same creek 
and camp for the review. Passed Falls Church to-day, a brick building 
on the right of the pike. Rain: slow getting into camp: in about noon; 
thick bushes; good ground. 

WASHINGTON. 

May "iO. Lying in camp. Olificers and men going to Ale.xand.ia 
(four miles) and Washington, on various errands. Money, some. 

May 21. Sabbath, a quiet day in camp. Some rain. Police a li'tle. 

May 22. Went to Alexandria with Captains Anderson and James. 
Bought whole suit. $95.25. Muddy: rode black horse. 

May 28. Orders for our review to-morrow: clothing issued. Sher- 
man will beat the Potomac. I hazard the prediction that his army will 
disappoint the thousands who to-day witness the review of the Potomac 
Army and are so anxious to see "Sherman's Ragamufifins." Splendid 
day. Fifty-second to lead to-morrow: goad. 

May 24. As I predicted Sherman is the hero of the war more than 
ever. The day has been one of fullest glory. I trust it all to memory 
as words here would fail me in an attempt at description. Rode Jack. 
In same camp: fine weather: Clancy in Alexandria. 

May 25. Move at 12 m. Pass through the city in good style: camp 
near Fort Totten, Bladensburg road, at dusk, or little before. This is 
promised as our last camp: "Thank God! who hath given us the victory." 

May 2(i. Rain all day. Can't cut and pile the undergrowth in our 
camp. Our baggage reached the city last evening. Bucke not returned 
yet. James back, absent since the 22d. Thomas. Brice, Duff, to the 
city: two last returned; moved my fly: read Sherman's Bowman letter of 
the 19th inst. 

May 27. Rain till noon: cloudy till night. Baggage came up: trunk 
all right, glad to see it. Having good living now. Will Holmes and 
"Bill" Ely came over. Loaned cousin $3. Policing done. Thompson 
tight; cusses Hill. 

May 28. Beautiful morning. See Dr. Walker at Brigade Headquar- 
ters. See Scroggs. A. C. M., Second Division, Fourteenth A. C. Mus- 



18(15, May 3.9— June K). 37 

ter out order and papers to-morrow. M. E. W. visits me; I furnish or- 
derly its dinner, for there is doubt in my mind as to gender; says it be- 
longs to Twelfth Indiana Infantry. Evidently came to see me in the in- 
terest of M. E. W., in some way. The visit not enthusiastic. Dr. Smoot 
and wife this p. rii. Collier. Recommend Hutchison for promotion. 

May 29. Commence rolls. Clean camp. Clancy visits. Looks 
slim. Collier came again. Talk with Thomas at night; has been to 
Baltimore for his boy. Bucke not back. 

May 30. The orderly, with strawberries and sleeping photo or 
sleepy photo. The orderly, a woman, I'll wager, on a qui vive. Clancy 
went back. Company A's rolls started. I'm playing its captain. 
Clancy to be back to-morrow night. "Nice day." Ninety-eighth O. V. 
I. mustered out. "Somebody better come here." 

May -31. Working on rolls; Clancy returned. Fine weather; got 
old wall tents, fourteen. Lots of work now. I'll kick up my heels. 
Recommendation in New York Herald, for promotion. Talked with 
Clancy about Dr. M. E. W. 

June 1. Fast day; Brice to city. Merchant Marshall from city. 

Captain , Ninety-eighth. It goes home at 9 a. m. to-morrow 

and we shall muster out nine companies, I think, may be ten. Will move 
for Ohio about the morning of the 4th. Company A getting on finely. 
Sherman's farewell in the Herald 11 p. m. Brice not back. 

June 2. Orderly out again, horseback. Lay on robe in the shade 
and talked about Corporal Taylor, Company G. Orderly excited. Am 
sure it's a woman and will tell her so next time. Is to see me again. 
Rolls finished. 

June 3. Clancy absent this morning. Regiment mustered out. 
Books boxed for Columbus, Ohio. James selected to take charge. Fine 
weather. 

June 4. Orderly and the robe again. I said: "Suppose I should say 
you were a woman." She denied, blundered and said, "A woman!" and 
left. Transportation by the B. & O. R. R. at 8 a. m. 

June 5. Move at 6 a. m. Some of the boys tipsy. Leave depot at 3 
p. m. O. K. Night came on between Relay House and and day- 
light. 

June 6. Found us at Harper's Ferry, or rather Berlin Station. 

June 7. Daylight, Woodstock. Oakland; sundown. Glover's Gap. 

June 8. Daylight, left Bellaire: 3 p. m., in the rain, reached Colum- 
bus, Tod Barracks. 

COLUMBUS. 

June 9. Reception. Brough, Anderson. Dinner, Brough, Given, 
Galloway and Moody. Five p. m.. in rain, moved to Chase. I came 
back to town. 

June 10. Came to camp about noon; nothing doing. Worked like 
a Turk at my ordnance returns. Fence torn down by the boys. 



38 FiFTV-SECOXD O. \'. I. 

June 11. Finishing ordnance, invoices and receipts. Saw General 
Richardson and had Clancy released from arrest. 

Jtine 12. Took a room at the Four Alile House to make out returns; 
finished and sent them off. 

June 13. Went to city. Told Lamb why I couldn't come on the 
11th. Rolls signed by our men. 

June 14. In Camp Chase. 

June 15. In Camp Chase. 

June 16. Went to Columbus and carred my horses to go out in the 
morning. 

June 17. Men paid off; going home. Certificate of non-indebted- 
ness from Lieutenant Fletcher, Fourth U. S. Cavalry. 

June 18. In Columbus. 

June 19. To Richmond, Ohio. 

June 20. To Cadiz. 

June 21. Home. 

June 22. Columbus, .$267.05 to John Irvine or Alf Ong. Clancy 
amende. 

June 23. Settle with Uncle Sam. 

June 24. Pearce and I to Cadiz. Joke on P. in sleeping car at Co- 
shocton. 

Saturday night: All at Home. 



CAMPS AND BATTLE-riELDS 
REVISITED. 



Grand Hotel. Cinxixnatf, Ohio. May 13, 189T. 

Nearly thirty-five years ag'o, to-wit : on a bright morning, 
the 2oth day of August. ]8i)V\ the Fifty-second Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, more than one thousand ofBcers and men, marched out 
of Camp Dennison and took cars for this city. After a long 
march through the streets, which fagged out a considerable 
number of the raw recruits, a flag presentation took place on 
Fourth in front of the Postoffice. The address of Thomas J. 
Gallagher. Esci.. was as follows : 

'"Colonel McCook: 

"It is my pleasant duty to present to you and your regiment, the 
'McCook's Avengers' — these flags. The name and the duty undertaken 
by the Fifty-second will keep alive with the citizens of Cincinnati a pe- 
culiar interest in the progress and achievements of your regiment. The 
friends and intimates of your murdered brother. General McCook. stand 
all around us. I cannot, therefore, trust myself to dwell upon the bloody 
and atrocious murder. I knew him well in life. He would have made 
lustrous with honor a career in any walk of life. In his death, our coun- 
try has lost a useful citizen, a brave soldier and a gallant gentleman. 
'Green be the grass o'er thee. 
Friend of my early days. 
None knew thee but to love thee. 
None named thee but to praise.' 
"But, to you, sir, eulogy is vain and words are not needed to incite 
to the high and noble duty which is yours. 

''To your hands, and to the keeping of 'the Avengers' I commit this 
'banner of beauty.' I know that it will be made glorious by heroic 
deeds: take it. Then, made sacred to a memory inspired by patriotism 
and hope — 

'The avenging sword unsheath." 
And when amid the wreck and carnage of battle, 

'As the long line comes gleaming on. 
Ere yet the lifeblood warm and wet 
Has dimmed the glistening bayonet. 
Each soldier's eye will brightly turn 
To where its meteor glories burn. 
And as his springing steps advance. 
Catch war and vengeance from the glance.' " 
41 



4:2 FiFTY-SECOXD O. A'. I. 

Dan. AlcCook, then colonel commanding the regiment, ac- 
cepted the banners and we presently marched down Race to the 
landing, crowded the ferryboat and, in installments, crossed over 
to Covington. There, during the afternoon we were entertained 
in Union Armory, the loyal people of that city spreading a boun- 
tiful repast for the Fifty-second and the Xinety-eighth Regi- 
ments, O. \ \ I. Along after nightfall, say 9 o'clock, we boarded 
a train on the Kentucky Central Railroad for Lexington and 
next morning camped in a beautiful grove of sugar and walnut, 
part of the fair grounds, south of that city, but in full view of it. 

My better-half and I left Columbus at 7 :lo, this morning, 
with an indefinite or flexible plan, which still has some definite 
and fixed general features, which, it is hoped, may be carried into 
execution. That is to say ; we propose to follow, by rail, as far 
as our limited time will permit, conditioned that all goes well, the 
course pursued by my command from the date of its entering the 
field until the war closed. That course may be described by a line 
of larger cities and towns, as follows : 

Cincinnati, Lexington — but here I separated, for a time, 
from the regiment, having been made prisoner while sick and 
unconscious in room 44, Broadway Hotel. I proceed, therefore', 
to describe the general route of the regiment until I rejoined it at 
Xashville, January 10, 1863, and shall then give my own route, 
followed by the joint career to final disbandment. 

Regiment : Frankfort. Louisville, Bardstown, Springfield, 
Perryville, Harrodsburg, Danville. Lancaster, Crab Orchard, 
Lebanon, Xew Market, Bowling Green, Franklin, Mitchellville, 
X'ashville. 

Self : Covington, Cincinnati, Columbus. Camp Chase, 
Camp Lew Wallace, Steubenville, Cincinnati, Louisville, Smith- 
land, Xashville — rejoined — Murfreesboro. Franklin, Columbia. 
Pulaski, Athens, Ala., Huntsville, Stevenson, Bridgeport, Chat- 
tanooga, Rome, Marietta, Peach Tree — not a city — Atlanta, 
Chattanooga, Huntsville, Florence and return to Atlanta. Mil- 
ledgeville. Savannah, Columbia, Goldsboro, Raleigh, Richmond, 
Washington. From X'ashville, January 10, 1863, until the close 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 43 

of the war. and the final discharge, June -i. 1865, I was never ab- 
sent from my post of duty with, or near, the regiment. 

The "field notes" which I shall make on this excursion will 
be such as the circumstances of travel and stoppages and their 
conditions may permit. The condensed and elliptical character 
of the observations may not be quite so intense as many of those 
noted in my journal while the conflict raged in those other days, 
and I hope I may make intelligible some of the obscurities 
therein. 



44 I^'^IFTY-SECOXD O. V. I. 

Phoenix Hotel, Lexinc-.tox. Kextuckv, May 14, 1897. 

We made the run from Cincinnati, yesterday, between 2 :10 
and G o'clock, p. m., better speed than was made l)y the train of 
thirty-five years ago. 

We spent the whole night of August 25-3G, 18G3, steadily 
creeping up through Cynthiana and Paris to Lexington. The 
care was so great and speed so low, because recent trains had 
been fired on and the country, along the railroad, was infested 
more or less, at certain points, by rebel partisans, or rangers, 
who had an awkward, vindictive and reckless way of attempting 
to burn railroad bridges, removing rails and firing their guns, at 
trains loaded with blue coated soldiers, especially in the night 
season. We w^ere not molested, however, then or now. 

Before we started out, this morning, I read from my journal 
of 1862 so much as was written therein between August 11. of 
that year, and my arrival at Nashville. Tennessee. January 10, 
1863. This was done with the view of giving Mrs. H. some idea 
of the outline, at least, of my course and adventures, in army life, 
down to the last named date. 

The first item of importance in this day's observations and 
experiences was the view of the burning of the Lexington Court 
House. I had ordered a carriage for the purpose of being driven 
about the city and making an effort to locate and identify the 
camp, the Broadway Hotel, and other points of interest, and, 
while waiting, as we stood looking out of the l)ay window of 
room 20, of the hotel, Mrs. H. inquired why some young men, 
apparently students, were running along the street below. There 
were only three or four of them and the pace was very moderate. 
A glance up at the dome of the Court House, about one square 
up the street and on the opposite side, showed a thin film of 
smoke commencing to issue from the loftiest point, the very pin- 
nacle, of the structure. The carriage came to the door just as 
the flames burst out of the tower, and the driver followed the 
alleys around the immense crowd, which soon gathered about 
the burning building, so as to give us an idea, by glimpses, of the 
progress of the conflagration. In sixty minutes, the work of de- 
struction was practically at an end. The tower, the attic, the 



Camps axd Battle-fiklds Ri-:visiti-:d. 45 

court rooms, the whole tliird floor had been gutted and portions 
of the lower floors much injured, entailing a loss of at least $50,- 
(»00, excluding the ruined master-piece in marble, "Woman Tri- 
umphant," by the late Joel T. Hart, a Kentucky artist, and paint- 
ings of Clay, John C. Ureckinridge, Barry and other national 
or Kentucky celebrities, some of which are. in their nature, irre- 
parable. The walls, being of stone, seem to stand so far unaf- 
fected by the fire that they will probably not have to be taken 
down, but with some slight repairs may be rebuilt upon, and will 
properly support a new finish. 

From the burning Court House, our colored driver, who 
said he was forty-three years old, had been born in Richmond, 
Virginia, and had lived twenty-five years in Lexington, started 
in search of the old camp ground. He failed to find it or the 
Breckinridge residence, though, as afterward appeared, he was, 
at one time, on the drive, not far from them. The land is largely 
built over; streets are laid out, and, of course, the forest trees 
have been mostly cut away. He next drove us out east to the 
Henry Clay homestead, a magnificent old place, where a son-in- 
law of the famous statesman now resides. A very considerable 
portion of the plantation has been subdivided and platted into 
city lots and improved for residence purposes. There is still a 
wide space, however, between the suburbs of the city and the 
home itself. It is on the south side of the pike by which we 
marched to the Kentucky river on the night of August 30, 1862, 
and returned to Lexington next day. It is in sight of the east- 
ern portion of the city. Turning about, after passing the large 
field or grove in which the great, dark-colored old mansion, with 
its pretentious barn and outbuildings, stands, we were driven 
to the postoffice, where I made a purchase of stamps and then the 
driver recalled the fact that the corridor in which I had been was 
the one in which Colonels Goodloe and Pope, distinguished law- 
yers and politicians of Lexington, met and mortally wounded 
each other perhaps a half dozen years ago. 

On our way from the Clay homestead to the postoffice, as 
we turned a corner, in the city, the driver, with a sort of bated 
breath, said, "This third house on de right is whar Col. Breck- 
inridge live." The square old brick dwelling, sitting down close 



4G Fifty-second O. V. I. 

to the ground, with httle side, or front, or back yard, with the 
dark paint scaHng off all over it. wath its dingy front door, left 
the impression that the Colonel's hard lines have given some 
character, at least, to his home appearances as well as to his po- 
litical and personal life and reputation. It will evidently be some 
years before the ladies of his congressional district consent to his. 
return to successful pu])lic or political life. 

From the postoftice, we were driven out to the Bryant Sta- 
tion spring, dedicated with great ceremony in August of last 
year to the memory of the women who went to it and procured 
water for the men who were besieged by Indians in the stockade 
on the knoll above it August 15-16. 1783. With savages lurking 
all around the station and the spring, not a shot was lired at the 
women, wdio by their daring brought water to the thirsty and 
heroic husbands and sons and brothers and made the successful 
defense of the station possible. The spring is some seventy-five 
yards from the point where the nearest portion of the block house 
or stockade stood ; it is very powerful, pouring out a stream of 
water, say, five feet wide and five or six inches in depth. It runs 
rapidly to Elkhorn creek only a few yards away. The stone wall 
built around the spring is about the size of a small, old-fashioned 
spring house, octagonal in form, six feet above the ground, out- 
side, very neat and substantial. The distance from the city is 
from four to five miles, northeast. The last volume of the Filson 
Club publications, which is in my library at home, contains a full 
account of the Bryant Station dedication and celebration of last 
year. I shall read it with renewed interest when I return. 

While at the spring two or three things occurred which illus- 
trate the uncertainty of fame and the occasional inaccuracy of 
history. Two natives were about to sit down for an outdoor 
lunch at the edge of the descent from the knoll above the spring, 
probably seventy-five feet from where the station stood, and I 
asked them if they could tell me its precise location. One of 
them pointed to a spot some three hundred yards down the creek 
and near its bank. I paralyzed him by asking why the women, 
at the time of the siege, had come all that distance up alongside 
the creek to procure water out of the spring. He simply re- 
sponded "that's so," and subsided with "I don't know, sah." 
The ten years old boy from whom I borrowed a tin cup with 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 47 

Avhich to dip a drink from the spring said the fort stood on 
ground on part of which the rear of their house now stands, and 
he walked from the front door around to the side of the house to^ 
ward the spring to indicate the exact location. The heads of the 
two natives, eating their early dinner, were just visible as they lay 
on the grass, over the crest toward the spring. 

The colored driver, when we walked back to the carriage, 
drove on northeast, perhaps a hundred yards over the bridge 
across the creek and while doing so informed us that the Indian 
chief "fell off the stump" of a large sycamore, about ten 
feet high, standing in the northern edge of the creek, above 
the bridge, when he was shot by some one from the fort. We 
could not understand how the chief had been shot from the top 
of that stump one hundred and fifteen years ago, when the break 
showed that the stump had not been a stump for much more than 
fifteen years, but we made no audible comments. He further 
said Col. Breckinridge had made the statement in his speech at 
the dedication. The record of that occasion does not show that 
the Colonel made any speech or was present during the dedica- 
tion exercises. 

The history is that an Indian — not a chief — had climbed into 
the sycamore and from his lofty perch was annoying the garrison, 
one of whom finally detected him and by a well-directed shot — 
it must have been a good one. considering the distance — tumbled 
the redskin out of the tree, not off its stump. 

The besiegers numbered four hundred to five hundred, a 
few of whom were Canadians and renegade whites; the great 
body of them were Wyandots and Lake Indians. The notorious, 
the infamous. Girty was among them. There were ninety per- 
sons, men, women and children, in the fort; about fifty men and 
boys capable of using rifles ; about thirty women and girls who 
made the sallv to the spring for water, and the remainder, small 
children. The siege, which lasted two days, was unsuccessful. 
The garrison lost two killed and one wounded; the besiegers' 
losses were never known, but thirty fell in the first assault up the 
slope from the spring. 

The names of nearly all the garrison are given in the Filsoji 
Club publication and the names of the heroic women and girls 



48 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

who marched to the spring and carried up the hill into the fort 
their buckets and piggins and noggins of water are carved on the 
several tablets of the stone memorial surrounding it. The credit 
of the memorial is due to the local chapter of the Daughters of 
the Revolution. The neat, old-fashioned one-story white house 
which typifies Bryant's Station is the only residence in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the spring which, itself, lies forty or fifty steps 
northwest of the unique stile, made over the fence to enable tour- 
ists to cross easily from the road into the field. 

When we returned from the Bryant Station spring, our 
driver, shortly before we reached the Court House square, turned 
into a narrow street and, driving alongside of a clean, white 
painted, brick house, said, "This was Gen. Morgan's home and 
it is kept very nearly as he left it, though none of his relations 
own it." 

He had been directed to stop at a dry goods store and pulled 
up his team at Guthrie & Watson's, on the Court House square. 
While Mrs. H. made her purchases, I talked with Mr. Guthrie, as 
we looked out the front of the store, about the calamity that had 
befallen the city and county. He pointed out the glass in one 
of their front windows which had been cracked by the heat, 
though I should think it is as much as two hundred feet away 
from the Court House. They thought their store would go sev- 
eral times, but, though the block caught fire more than once, it 
was saved. In the course of our conversation I learned that Mr. 
Guthrie was an Ohio man, originally from Highland county, and 
at sixteen had been a member of the Fortieth O. V. L He did 
not seem to know either Col. Watson, now of Columbus, or 
Judge Math. P. Simpson, now of McPherson, Kansas, both of 
whom were in that regiment, Watson as Lieutenant Colonel and 
Simpson as Sergeant Major. 

He thought he could point out the location of our camp and 
show us the Breckinridge house still standing, and so, after din- 
ner, I ordered another carriage and picking up Mr. Guthrie, we 
were driven down below where the driver took us this morning 
and on the second pike visited found and identfied the localities, 
though very much changed by the hands of time and improve- 
ment. The conformation of the land and the Breckinridge house 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 49 

made me quite certain, however, of the spot where camp hfe and 
real soldiering began with us. 

Lexington has greatly changed, as must any progressive 
city in the course of a third of a century, growing from a popula- 
tion of 4,000 to 30,000. Mr. Guthrie, having Kentucky relatives, 
settled here soon after the war and of course has become thor- 
oughly identified with the people and their interests. The firm 
was a pioneer on the Court House square and its history and ap- 
pearance argue a sound and continuing prosperity. 

Mr. Guthrie, whose polite attentions were fully appreciated, 
directed the driver to pass the site of the old Broadway Hotel. 
It w^as torn down long ago and there seem to be at least three 
buildings of different ages and architectural designs and used for 
different purposes now standing on the corner where it stood. 
He showed us the boarding house at which Jefiferson Davis stop- 
ped when a student here attending Transylvania University, from 
which Davis and John H. Morgan graduated. He pointed out 
the w'indows of Davis's room, in the second story of his boarding 
house, the lower portion of which is now used as a grocery. The 
ancient architecture, the old building itself, of the University, is 
impressive and a view of it well repays the short time necessary 
to ride or walk out to its locality. 

The Clay monument will probably remain for many genera- 
tions the most conspicuous object in the Lexington cemetery, or 
in the northern part of the city. 

While the name of one Lexington hotel keeper has. much to 
my regret, been lost to memory, his genial personality and the 
evidences of his good will to myself in the shape of a hamper con- 
taining "a feast of fat things," wdiich came out to our camp on 
two or three different days, linger inefifaceably pictured on its 
walls. I presume that there are some of my men — John Rine- 
hart, for example — who could recall the name, for they patron- 
ized and became well acquainted with him, but it lies just beyond 
the end of my tongue or pen. 

The following extract is from one of my letters written home 
at its date : 



50 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Lexington, Ky., August 28, 1862. 

Amid the bustle and jabber of three thousand men after great labors, 
physical and mental, I must drop you a small letter. I was commis- 
sioned Second Lieutenant on the lltli day of August and empowered to 
recruit a company for three years or the war. They only gave me four 
days in which to raise one hundred men. The time was extended and 
at the end of six days I had a full company. On Wednesday evening 
20th, we started in wagons for Steubenville and shipped for Camp Den- 
nison on Thursday morning, 21st. After lying by at Columbus for fotir 
or five hours, we started a second time for camp and reached it about 
ten o'clock at night. The boys, one hundred and seven in numbers, 
piled down on a new kind of bed to many of them. That bed was the 
feathery side of a board with a blanket spread under and over. Here 
_we remained as busy as could be organizing the company until Sunday 
morning when our Colonel, Dan McCook of the Fifty-second O. V. L, 
ordered three days' rations to be cooked, for we were to start on Mon- 
day morning for Kentucky. All was ready and at ten o'clock Monday 
morning, we started by the cars for the "dark and bloody ground.'' We 
marched about five miles through Cincinnati. Five or six of my boys 
gave out, A. R. among the number. We halted on the river bank and 
the tired boys all crawled along so that by the time the steamer swung 
round for the left wing of the regiment every one of otir boys was ready 
to go aboard. In Covington, I saw James Dickerson, Oliver Reynolds, 
William Ely and a host of acquaintances, members of the Ninety-eighth, 
which had left Camp Steubenville a day or two before. 

After a good supper, furnished by the patriots of Covington, we took 
the railroad for Lexington, which place we reached about nine o'clock 
Tuesday morning. Here we have been ever since in the blue grass coun- 
try, encamped in a beautiful grove of stigar and walnut southeast of 
Lexington about eighty rods. Here are the slightly rolling lands, trod- 
den once by the venerable Clay, here are lands owned by Breckinridge 
and Morgan. * * * 

This bit of paper tells its own story: 

Headquarters Army of Kentucky, 

Lexington, September 2, 1862. 

I, Captain J. T. Holmes, Company G, Fifty-second Ohio Volunteers, 
a prisoner of war, captured by the Confederate forces under Major Gen- 
eral E. Kirby Smith, having been this day paroled, do solemnly swear 
that I will not take up arms against the Confederate States of America 
until duly exchanged, and that I will not communicate any military in- 
formation to the enemies of the Confederate States, which I may ob- 
tain whilst in their lines. The penalty for the violation of this parole is 
death. 

[Official.] A. F. Rudler, Major, Provost Marshal. 



Camps and Battle-fields Ren'isited. 51 

It is dated the 2d of the month, the day the enemy captured 
Lexington, but the oath was taken and the parole delivered on 
the 4th. The Confederate lieutenant who came to my room 
seemed to be quite nervous, as though the business of "swearing 
people and letting them go" was new and embarrassing to him. 

A portion of another letter bears on the same period : 

Columbus, Ohio, September 20, 1862. 

We mounted the train and put away for Lexington about half-past 
nine. Twenty-five cars in the train. Twenty of them cattle cars and in 
them ten companies of Ohio's brave sons. It was no nice place to ride, 
but the men took it as a "military necessity" and sang songs and slept 
and, sorry to say, some swore, all night long. Colonel McCook ordered 
his officers to ride in the hindmost car, a medium passenger, but, by the 
side of the cattle car. a rarity. We jogged along very carefully. Com- 
pany A. Captain Clarke, with guns loaded, for the train on the previous 
night had been fired into by rebels. After dawn — Tuesday, 26th Au- 
gust — at every bridge we saw a squad of Union soldiers and in all direc- 
tions one silent waste, to all appearances. I think the Kentucky Central 
must run through a desolate country, for I could see no indications of 
life anywhere save at Cynthiana and Paris. 

Without accident, we arrived at Lexington. Tlie very air smelled 
of secession. 

Not a single demonstration greeted us and in all the city I only saw 
two flags that morning while we marched through. We camped and 
afterward I wrote you. 

On August 30th, about dusk, we received marching orders. Such 
was the haste in which we took arms that I forgot to change shoes and 
started ofif with thin-soled gaiters. We were off for Richmond, twenty- 
six miles southeast, where Nelson, with eight thousand men, had been 
contending two days with three times his number. There were five 
thousand in our temporary brigade. I had not marched more than two 
miles until my feet began to remind me that they were too close to the 
pike, but it was too late to turn back then. Eight miles out and the men, 
unaccustomed to forced marching, were stopped for water at a spring. 
Yes, a Kentucky spring. I was bamboozled two or three times right 
among them, so I must tell you what a spring in Kentucky is. Take a 
low piece of ground, dig a hole thirty feet in diameter and three feet 
deep, wall it up on three points of the compass, leaving it open on the 
fourth. Let the water collect there partly from the ground and the rest 
from the skies; let it stand until the green scum and filth reach an inch 
in thickness and you have a first-rate Kentucky spring. I was fooled 
by looking for the running water when we would stop and not seeing 
any I, after a time, found out these places were their springs. While 



52 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

we stopped at one of them, somewhat worn out, I lay down among Com- 
pany G on the road and fell asleep. It was probably eleven o'clock 
when, amid shouts and rushing men, I was aroused to receive a kick on 
the head from a mule that had gotten loose and run over the Company. 
When I scrambled to my feet and turned around my sword and hat were 
both gone; the scabbard was by my side, but the blade was gone. One 
of my boys found the sword lying some ten feet from where I had been 
sleeping and the hat came from, I don't know where. "Fall in,"' "For- 
ward," "March," came next and the mule with jingle heels was forgot- 
ten. Three or four of my boys were bruised a little, but none seriously. 
My first thought on waking was that there was a battery of artillery 
running over us! We finally moved of^ for Richmond again, but I had 
to leave four or five of my Company behind; two of them went back to 
Lexington on the retreating wagons and the rest, after snoozing a while, 
came after the regiment. About three o'clock in the morning we halted, 
when I took the sweetest sleep I ever had in my life on a bed of lime- 
stone, broken ready to be put on the pike when winter comes. Captain 
Clancy lay next me and Lieutenant Sturgis next him. both from Smith- 
field. If I live to be as old as grandfather, I'll not forget the depth and 
sweetness of that sleep; the other two said the same thing. 

After falling in again we soon reached the bank of the Kentucky 
river. Here we halted and caught sight of rebels across the stream 
planting a battery. Having no artillery, we countermarched and spent 
the Sabbath retreating. Nelson had been completely whipped on Sat- 
urday evening and in our condition it would have been madness to at- 
tempt a stand. It rained during the last eight miles — didn't rain — it 
poured rather, and that was what brought me here. Those shoes were 
soaked in five minutes and marching eight miles in that condition and 
sleeping in wet clothes threw me into the fever that held me till JefY. got 
hold. I had in my pocket one hundred and twenty-five dollars then and 
by the time I landed in Camp Chase I had just twenty. So much it cost 
me to be made prisoner. That was nothing, however, compared with the 
sacrifices of many. My life was spared, and all that came with me fared 
better for the money. Money taken out, I saved all private property, 
sword and revolver to boot. Abe can tell you all about the eighty-four 
miles' march from Lexington to Covington, or has told you already. 

Nothine^ remains of this trip, for this city, btit to praise the 
entertainment at the Phoenix, pay for it, buy railroad tickets to 
Nashville Z'ia Louisville and the Mammoth Cave, and take our 
leave by the Chesapeake & Ohio train at (i :30 p. m. 



Camps and Battle-fields "Revisited. 53 

Nashville. Tennessee, May 16, 1897. 

We left the Chesapeake & Ohio train at what is called the 
First-street crossing in Louisville, one square north to the Gait 
House and retired at midnight in room 511 of that famous host- 
lery, from which we took our departure soon after 6 o'clock yes- 
terday morning. After breakfast, by a blunder of the transfer 
company, if it was not downright dishonesty in some employe, I 
was obliged, at the last moment to call a carriage to take us and 
our baggage to the Louisville & Nashville depot, in a hurry. We 
were barely in time and at 11 :26 a. m. stepped ofif at Glasgow 
Junction to enter the car for Mammoth Cave, nine miles up over 
the mountains. They are Kentucky mountains, not very high, 
although one cannot say so much for the fare, as you are por 
litely asked to pay $2.50 for a round trip, fourteen cents per mile ! 
It almost takes away the breath of the economical tourist who 
finds himself aboard the little nondescript car, with its little non- 
descript engine in front to find his purse so heavily assessed for 
so short a ride. Some of the groaning among the economical 
was audible and amusing, though the rate was a serious matter 
with them. I paid for an excursion ticket from Lexington to 
Nashville and return, nearly six hundred miles, $5.90, while the 
Mammoth Cave, eighteen miles, called for almost one-half that 
sum. The cave hotel was reached at 13 :15 p. m. 

Our baggage had all been taken along on the theory that we 
might stav over Sunday and come down to this city by the fore- 
noon train to-morrow. It soon became apparent that there 
would be no such "stay over." The Railway Guide for May an- 
nounced, with reference to entertainment, when speaking of the 
"Cave Hotel," that it is "A commodious structure, famous for its 
southern simplicity and comforts, southern hospitality and par- 
ticularly for its southern bill-of-fare." This announcement is 
part of the notice contained in the Guide, which notice is authen- 
ticated by the name of the manager. I have somewhat to say 
about the portion quoted above. 

There were, perhaps, thirty visitors, merely transient visitors, 
at the hotel. Tliere are accommodations for four hundred or five 
hundred people. I registered, as I always do, my citizenship; 



54: Fifty-second O. V. I. 

for when I become ashamed of Ohio and its beautiful capital, my 
home, I shall feel like exclaiming with the ancient Jew anent his 
beloved Jerusalem. "If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her 
cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the 
roof of my mouth," or words to that effect. We were assigned 
to room 97 and conducted past vacant, unoccupied downstairs 
and upstairs rooms, that would accommodate two hundred per- 
sons, to the remotest upstairs room in that establishment. I 
mean the room farthest away from the offtce and the general sit- 
ting room. Number 97 was cold and dreary. We left our 
satchels in it and repaired immediately to the dining room oppo- 
site the office. This was as cold as the cave itself, being in tem- 
perature about fifty-five degrees. Now, the structure is commo- 
dious ; no one would wish to deny it up to the four hundred or 
five hundred capacity. It is, I must say, clean and well kept. Its 
simplicity and comforts are in Southern Kentucky, but I have 
seen a good deal of the South and the "simplicity and comforts" 
are not, by a long shot, as much southern as western. I have 
spent months in the Rockies where just that sort of "simplicity 
and comforts" was to be foimd in abundance. The manager 
may think the hospitality and the bill-of-fare are southern in 
type, but I can assure him that the people of the South — those 
who know what true social life and good living are — would be 
slightly inclined to call his statements when carried into execu- 
tion, if we saw fair samples, a gentle libel on southern hospitality 
and bills-of-fare. 

Before the dinner was fairly begun the "stay over" idea was 
"deader than a door nail." Fifty dollars per day and a free con- 
duct over the seven miles and the seventeen miles trips through 
the cave would not have tempted us to stay until the coming of 
the Monday forenoon train for Nashville on the main line. It 
was a mistake to come from Ohio and disclose the fact on the 
register. The war is not entirely over with some few, I hope 
very few, classes of people, and those who carried neither guns 
nor swords and retain the war feeling fight in other ways and 
with other weapons. 

The train was to leave the Cave Hotel about 7 p. m. and it 
was settled that we should sleep in Nashville from midnight until 



Ca.mps and Battle-fields Revisited. 55 

this morning, and we did. We did not take either tlie short or 
the long route in the cave. We did walk dow^n to the mouth and 
in as far as the iron gate, which bars further progress, except with 
a guide, perhaps sixty steps from the wide opening by which one 
iDegins the descent. That satisfied all sentiment and gratified all 
•curiosity, under the circumstances. The mouth of the cave is in 
a wooded valley, through which a small mountain stream flows 
in wet weather. Its channel is within a few^ steps of the opening 
and along it winds a country wagon road. Going out the rear 
of the hotel buildings, you pass through a garden containing a 
half acre of ground, then out through a door in the fence. On 
this door are a hasp and padlock to fasten it, at all proper times, 
to the staple driven in the gatepost. Immed'.aiely outside the 
door, you begin the descent of one hundred and fifty yards, 
through woods, down the steep hillside, to the cave's mouth. A 
spring pours a continual stream dow^n over the middle of the 
opening, which is, I should say, twenty-five feet wide and per- 
haps fifteen to twenty feet high. The mouth is entered by going 
down a steep flight of stone steps, some twenty-five or thirty of 
them. About half way down, the drip from a spring may strike 
the rock at one point and sprinkle you slightly. The steps are at 
the right side of the mouth as you look caveward. W^e spent a 
half hour seeing our friends make ready for the short route and 
accompanied them to the iron gate. Of the party were Dr. and 
Mrs. Goldsboro, of LaGrange, Kentucky, twenty-seven miles 
from Louisville, whom we met first on the Cave railroad. They 
were returning from the Tennessee Centennial, now being held 
in this city. There were also a Chicago man, a young gentle- 
man from Los Angeles, California, and a spare-personed Eng- 
lishman. 

WHiile this party was gone, some three hours, Ave looked 
into the common sitting room, where a large open wood fire was 
burning and enjoyed its heat for a time; we rambled over the 
grounds about the hotel and visited the young black l)ear, the 
two grown coons, the grown fox and three small ones — the 
former red and the latter of the gray species — the opossum ; the 
white hawk, whose left wing had evidently been broken by a shot, 
at the time of his capture ; the six large owls ; the two hawks, and 



5G Fifty-second (). \'. I. 

the setting hens, all in cages. One hen was maturing twenty-six 
youg ducks, as yet wholly unconscious of the fact that they will 
plunge into the first body of water past which she may attempt to 
lead them. We inspected the long row of nine double cabins, 
now turned into a continuous row of bed rooms by boarding up 
the open spaces. The large spaces originally left in each double 
cabin make bed rooms, each holding two beds^^ the cabins them- 
selves each hold three beds, and the narrow spaces, say three feet, 
between the ends of the original doubles, make closets by having 
doors cut in from each adjoining cabin. We rambled upon the 
hill where we had left the train and in the edge of the wood, on 
the dirt road, met Uncle Jimmy Hay den, a colored teamster, who 
carries passengers from Glasgow Junction to the cave at one-half 
the rate charged by the railroad syndicate. He drives a good 
team and has a comfortable spring wagon, supplied with good 
robes. It is without doubt, that he is a formidable rival of the 
Cave railroad in the carrying business, and it is safe to say the 
management is not over fond of him. 

Uncle Jimmy gave us a fund of information. ''Deh wah is 
not over yit, sah !"' "Nortfiern men find very few places where 
they are made welcome as settlers." He did not know where we 
were from and proceeded to give the history of an Ohio man's 
experience, who sold his Ohio farm and bought four times as 
many acres in Tennessee with the proceeds of the Ohio sale. 
Uncle Jimmy talked with him at Glasgow Junction as he was go- 
ing south and some four years later happened to meet him there 
as he was on his way north again. The Ohio man's report was 
that he had enough of the South ; he had sold his Tennessee land 
at a discount and expectd to begin life without capital when he 
returned to Ohio. The venture had taken his all. Uncle Jimmy 
had been more than a year in the Confederate army as the attend- 
ant of his young master, who was wounded at Chickamauga and 
died not long afterward at Savannah. Georgia. He has a good 
home near Glasgow Junction and is shrewd and economical ; he 
is about fifty-eight years of age. 

The cave visitors came back about (i p. m., most of them sat- 
isfied ; all of them tired. We had supper in the chilly dining 
room, the fioor of which is bare wood, the ceiling low, but the 



Camps and Battle-fields REVisrrED. 57 

"soutliern fare" was the main feature. The native, half-breed 
waiter spilled the colYee on our clothes and that was the only real 
passable article on the table, except the hominy, out of which I 
made my meal. At 7 p. m., with a very quiet and undemonstra- 
tive good-by to the slightly deaf manager, we started up the 
gravel walk for the car. 

I omitted mention a moment ago of the splendid eagle whose 
cage is just beyond the black bear in the large hotel grounds. I 
discovered two large feathers, dropped from his wings to the bot- 
tom of the cage, and bribed one of the native servants, with a 
quarter, to procure them for us. The cages of all the animals 
and birds are large, with frame boarded up three or four feet from 
the ground, then wire mesh and a roof over that from twelve to 
fifteen feet above the earth. The eagle and other birds are given 
the ground for a floor, but the animals are put on timber floors 
to prevent their digging out. 

We arrived at Cilasgow Junction soon after dusk and found 
a telegram from home showing all well there. The 8 :15 p. m. 
train was on time and we landed in this city about 11 :30 p. m. 
Coming down from the cave, some young ladies — seminary girls. 
I should say — with their young gentlemen escorts, from a few 
miles down the road, made considerable noise in the way of en- 
tertaining each other, cracking what were no doubt, in good faith, 
intended for jokes and witticisms and duly appreciating them by 
corresponding "loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind." Some 
of the wit was like the wit of all such crowds, unpremeditated, ex- 
temporaneous, enforced and. accordingly, excruciating in char- 
acter. Now, a genuine piece of fun — I do not call it wit — as 
comic in its situation and action as a burlesque, occurred on the 
train as we were well up toward Lexington en the day we left 
home. Across the aisle from our seats in the parlor car was a 
short, spare man, with closely cropped beard and hair streaked so 
as to indicate fifty-five years of age, wearing a white necktie, 
reading the Western Christian Advocate and having a minis- 
terial air. He had put down his paper and taken up a yellow pa- 
per-backed book which looked mightily like a story of some 
kind, and was deeply absorbed in its perusal, when a quick- 
spoken, nervous man, dressed in gray, with white hair, about 



oS P^IFTY-SECOND O. V. I. 

sixty-five years old, entered the front end of the car and walking 
briskly along the aisle toward the rear, as he passed the reader, 
struck him on the right shoulder with a folded or rolled news- 
paper which he carried in his right hand, at the same instant ob- 
serving, in a quick, jerky way, "You're an old Methodist ; can tell 
it by your looks." The man never missed a step, but walking to 
the rear door of the car looked out for about two minutes, during 
which the other turned and stared and stared at him in an effort 
to solve the mystery of such familiarity. Presently the new 
comer turned from the rear door and went out front without a 
glance at any one, our ministerial friend watching in an effort to 
identify him, failing in which he followed the other into a forvvard 
car from which he returned in about five minutes apparently 
satisfied, for he took up his book and resumed his reading. From 
the time the blow was struck with the newspaper until the minis- 
ter passed out aftei" his assailant, his interest in the performance 
was intense and the situation comical. It was not easy to ex- 
plain why, but the whole situation was solved as I was buying 
our tickets for Nashville in the Phoenix next day. I stood in a 
draft between two open doors for a few minutes and as a result 
sneezed. Instantly some one stepped out of the hotel office into 
the ticket office and said, "Who sneezed?" There was no mis- 
taking that voice, with its wiry tone. It was the man who said, 
"You're an old Methodist, &c." I turned and said, "i did, sir, 
from standing in this draft." A glance into his face showed that 
he had "a crack in his understanding" ; he was a harmless lunatic, 
running at large. I laughed, again, to think of the minister 
chasing vigorously after him to learn what did not come to me 
until twenty-four hours later. The crazy man's wit, so to style 
it, was genuine and interested spectators more than the empty 
quip or the loud laugh which it evoked. 

From Dr. and Mrs. Goldsboro, we had such accounts of the 
Tulane — old Nicholson — House that we concluded to try it. 
though the Guide and our conductor both named the Maxwell- 
House as leading, and so we walked up Church street two 
squares from the Union Depot and stopped at the Tulane. At 
once we were impressed by a want of neatness. Dust covered 
everything and at the foot of the elevator stood a spittoon full of- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 51> 

tobacco quids, cigar stumps and tobacco juice in the various, 
stages of decomposition. It was disgusting, but a fair index of 
the keep of the liouse. I gave my trunk check to the clerk and 
waited an hour to learn that the baggage man or porter of the 
hotel could not obtain the trunk that night. It was to be obtain- 
ed and sent up inmiediately after (i this morning. At 9 o'clock 
we had an abominable breakfast. As scon as it was finished, I 
started for the Maxwell House and found room 1. second floor, a 
splendid place to lodge for two or three days, or much longer if 
one wished, and we soon abandoned room 'MH) of the Tulane for 
room 1 of the Maxwell. 

Mrs. II. at 11 a. m. went to McKendree M. E. Church south, 
on the east side of Church street between the two hotels named. 
The Maxwell is about two squares from the river while the Tu- 
lane is four and the Union Depot is six, all on the west side of 
Church street. When I had settled my bill with the Tulane at 10- 
a. m., I found that the trunk had been there about four hours 
without any effort to send it to our room according to promise. 
After dinner we walked to the Government Building on 
Broadway, thinking it possible that the postoffice general de- 
livery might be open, but it was not. From that point we walked 
to the Capitol Building and to the upper verandas, from which 
one has a magnificent view of the whole city and its suburbs. 
The building itself is just as it was during the war, except that 
time and the smoke of a great and growing city have darkened 
the Tennessee marble of which it is constructed and which in 
war times used to shine white and clear as far as the eye could see 
it. The interior remains unchanged in general appearance. It 
is dusty and, as in the long ago, has a neglected and unkempt or 
untidy air. During war times, this condition was to be expected, 
but I can only account for it now on the theory that during these 
centennial months the doors are much open, the visitors throng 
the corridors, rooms and verandas, the Legislature is not in ses- 
sion and the janitor's work is not very well done, in fact, does 
not seem to be done at all. 

Looking from the heights of the Capitol over the city, in 
every direction, I note very great changes. The old has already 
passed away and the new has taken and is taking its place. Where 



GO P'lFTY-SECOND O. V. I. 

in 18G;3 were say 25,000 or 30,000 people are now settled 1-30,000. 
The boundaries seem to be well out toward, and in some places 
beyond, the picket lines, which I used to ride nights from the 
Cumberland river above to the vicinity of the Cumberland below 
the city. The line was from eight to tw^elve miles around, or half 
way round the city. From January to August 20, 1863, the 
south side of the river was the side of greatest interest, as the 
enemy was south and southeast of us from twenty to forty miles 
and not liable to gain the north side of the river without notice. 

From the Capitol grounds, which are very much improved 
over their condition in the olden time, we came down past the 
Polk homestead. It is in a dilapidated and forlorn condition. 
The elaborate tomb of the ex-President, which was constructed 
at the rear of his large side yard after his death and where his 
body rested for many years, has fallen into utter ruin. The su- 
perstructure, with its columns and the columns themselves, ex- 
cept a portion of one of them, have disappeared. The wide deep 
vault is half filled with all sorts of debris, brush, grass, stones, 
logs, &c., about one-third covered by a stone, some ten feet long 
and thirty inches to three feet wide, lying across the middle of the 
opening, the stone itself partially eaten aw'ay by the action of sun 
and winds arfd rain and frost. The thin slabs of stone, which 
made the sides of the vault are still in place and fairly well pre- 
served. The curbs which marked the sides of the walk about 
the tomb are down even with the ground, and the whole scene 
is grass grown and shabby in the extreme. One enters the large 
side yard north of the house by an iron gate, which embodies as 
its principal features an anchor, a circle and a light iron frame all 
surmounted by an iron eagle as large as your two hands spread 
out. This is the north side of the premises. The portion of the 
house fronting on this flank has four large columns, made of 
wood, with capitals of the same materials, extending from the 
low porch to the height of the eaves and covering a side door. 
Remembering that the front of the house is toward the east and 
has this same sort of columns, the impression is given that the 
side columns were put up later than those in front. The front 
yard is, I should say, one hundred and fifty feet square and the 
house looks down a short street, Polk avenue, which ends in 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. G1 

Church street, running north and south, two hundred yards, or 
less, below. A large portion of the rear of the original lot, espe- 
cially the southwest corner, has been sold off and built upon by 
the colored people. We passed around the front of the house to 
the south side \vhere is the old well, still operated by a windlass, 
rickety and typical. A colored woman, sitting in the door of her 
little wooden house, could almost reach the well with her walking 
stick and the aroma of her pipe would easily reach the windows 
of the old mansion. The outside of the house failed to answer 
very definitely whether or not any one lived in it. Two or three 
pots of plants, at side and front doors, indicated the affirmative, 
while the closed blinds and doors, the grass-grown grounds and 
walks, the fallen fences, tlie dark paint scaled and scaling from 
walls and colunnis and doors and windows and blinds all seemed 
to show complete desertion. The colored woman, however, said 
that a Miss or Mrs. Paul, an adopted daughter of President and 
Mrs. Polk, still lived there. This accounted for the potted plants 
and discounted a little the air of total abandonment spread all 
around the old home, w'hich a stranger would suppose would be 
one of > the proudly preserved and protected spots in Tennessee. 

I had forgotten the precise locality of the house, and as we 
were at the corner of the Capitol grounds, asked a gentleman who 
stood in front of his residence just where it was. He showed us 
the corner of the grounds a few yards east and remarked, apole- 
getically "the property is not kept up as it should be." The col- 
ored woman said Miss Paul had no money to "spar to keep de 
property in ordah." 

I can recall the excitement of the presidential canvass when 
James K. Polk, of Tennessee, was elected. My boyish mind was 
heated by the acounts of the Mexican war, which occurred during 
his administration. The memory of the accounts of his illness 
w'hen he left the White House and on his way up the rivers to his 
home is very distinct.' There were no railroads then. The last 
work he did — and in it he overtaxed his strength — before he 
finally lay down to die, was in the arrangement, or rearrange- 
ment, of his library not very long after his return from the presi- 
dency. His death occurred June 15, 1849. Mrs. Polk survived 



■62 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

him many years, dying in the homestead during Harrison's term 
as President. 

The Capitol building stands with its foundation higher than 
the tops of most of the houses in the city. It is hke one of the 
Scripture houses, buih upon a huge rock and it is visible for long 
distances from every direction. The equestrian statue of Jack- 
son stands in the grounds near the northwest end of the building ; 
his painting adorns the Senate Chamber of the Capitol. 

Sunday on the streets, with their rush and noise and clatter, 
has been hardly distinguishable from the ordinary business days. 

Since the foregoing was written a member of the Nashville 
bar advises me that Mrs. Polk died in August, 1891, and her 
husband's remains were removed from the homestead to a new 
tomb in the Capitol grounds in September, 1S93. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 63 

Nashville. Tennessee, May 17, 1897. 

It is perfectly clear that we have made no mistake in chang- 
ing hotels. The Maxwell House is superb in its dining room 
supply and service and every other way so far as our observation 
and experience go. 

The first point of interest this morning, after a good break- 
fast, was the postofKce, where I found a letter from home. "All 
well" covers a multitude of good things, when coming from, or 
sent, home, and that was the message which the letter bore. 

Next, we took an exposition car for the grounds, which are 
in the southwestern outskirts of the city. The day was mostly 
spent going through the different buildings. Although last year 
was the centennial of Tennessee's admission into the Union and 
the work of preparation was begun, continued and carried into 
this year, the work is still going on in every building except what 
is known as the Government building, which was formally dedi- 
cated and thrown open to-day. Uncle Sam has not done the 
thing in any half-hearted way. His exhibit in every department 
is intensely interesting. The arrangement is perfect and the 
whole effect most satisfying. We went through all, but could 
spend a week with profit and interest in this one building alone. 
I am glad to see the Government do such a thing, in such a way 
and at such a time and place. It argues better things for all the 

people. 

A vast amount of work has been done in the way of prepa- 
ration, but a great deal remains to be done and the work must be 
pushed or the 1st of October, the end of the exposition, will come 
and exhibits will still be unpacked. It seemed to me that much 
time had been given to details and a great deal of labor put upon 
them which might have been better directed and expended. For 
example, in the agricultural building, it must have taken time 
and patience and labor to surround a tall column from floor to 
dome with ears of corn nailed to it. The principle and the pro- 
duct could have been as well illustrated in one-fourth of the time 
and with one-fourth of the labor. This sort of judgment crops 
out at many turns ; but the showing even in the incomplete and 
imperfect form is very creditable. From the far away north, from 



64 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

the Golden Gate, from the mountains of the east, from abroad, 
from Germany, France, Italy. Russia, Turkey, and other coun- 
tries of the old world, are dainty and creditable representations. 
China and Japan are there in fair exhibits. The law and the gos- 
pel, old and new, find places beside the evidences of savagery and 
the uncivilized past. Against the wall are fastened the crossed 
swords and guns of the Federal and Confederate, gathered from 
battle fields of the civil war, far and near, and above this impres- 
sive exhibit, in bold letters, is the appropriate legend : "They 
shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into 
pruning hooks." 

Philadelphia in 1876, Chicago in 1894, Atlanta in 1896, have 
taught our people very generally the character and quality of an 
exposition. It would be laborious to go into any particulars in 
these hurried notes and we, therefore, pass out of the grounds to 
other scenes and entertainments. 

At 4 p. m. we took carriage for a drive out College street in 
search of our second camp ground at Nashville in 1863. The 
ground is laid out in lots, streets and alleys and compactly built 
over, but I was enabled to locate the point by the old cemetery 
and the old college building. The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. 
Louis Railroad and Fort Negley hill also contribute to make the 
matter definite and certain. From this point we drove across 
the railroad track and, following the boulevard, which has been 
cut and built, running south, between Fort Negley — now called 
St. Cloud hill — and the Franklin pike, until it entered the latter 
pike, beyond the line of the stone wall which ran from Negley 
down to the pike and up the hill above our first camp to Fort 
Morton, we crossed over to the Granny White pike and drove 
out to find the point where I cooked my first piece of ham, held 
on a forked stick over a fire in the rain, while commanding a 
picket post, in January, 1863. I identified the spot by the pike, 
the conformation of the ground and the general surroundings. 

The large grounds near by in which the statutary and culti- 
vated lawn formed such attractive features during the war, known 
as the Acklin place, are still preserved and in fair condition. 

From the Granny White pike, on the return to the city, we 
drove through the grounds of our old camp, the line of the street 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 65 

by which we crossed from the Granny White to the Frankhn 
pike, at old Fort Xegley, being just where there was a road back 
of the row of company of^cers' tents and beside which the sutler 
did business while we quartered there. Baldwin was his name, 
an old steamboat captain, who had married the splendid sister of 
the fighting AlcCooks. Baldwin died long ago and thencefor- 
ward Mrs. B. lived with her widowed mother, until the latter died 
a few years since. Mrs. Baldwin is, I think, still living. I saw 
her last at the Barnesville reunion of the regiment in 1873, where 
she was in company with her mother, Mrs. McCook. Some of 
the wags of the Fifty-second used to provoke the sutler by talk- 
ing about his "pies and things" with such a pronunciation as to 
suggest that the two words made one and that he kept and sold 
to them "pizen things." 

From this vicinity we passed to the cemetery, which lay be- 
low our second camp, mentioned above, and across the railroad 
northeast, entered the gate and drove all through its roads. It 
has fallen into considerable decay and shows a want of exact care. 
A new one has been established to the northeast of the city two 
miles or more away, but still in sight, and in time the old ground 
wall be wholly abandoned and bodies and ashes and monuments 
and markers will be removed to the new location and business 
will intrude precisely as it did in the case of the old north grave- 
yard at Columbus. The conditions are strikingly similar. The 
N., C. & St. L. R. R. cuts through one corner of the Xashville 
burying ground as did the Little Miami alongside of the old 
North graveyard and the inexorable logic of events, the con- 
scienceless demands of business and utility wall overthrow all 
sentiment and the dead must take up their beds and walk. When 
we left the cemetery gate our driver was instructed to take us to 
the Montgomery-Bell Academy, the school of Prof. S. M. D. 
Clark, a Kenyon schoolmate of Edward Bates, Mrs. Holmes' 
older brother, who died at Gambier while they were attending 
the college, Mav 13, 1860. We found the Professor swinging in 
a hammock on his veranda, after his day's work. He came out 
to the carriage and while we waited and talked it was arranged 
that he should send his janitor down to the Alaxwell in the morn- 
ing, by which time our plan for to-morrow will be settled and 



60 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

possibly we can all go to the Hermitage. It was growing dusk 
when we reached our hotel. 

The original purpose dow^i to this day has been to run out 
to Murfreesboro to-morrow morning, view the Stone River battle 
field and come back here just after dinner, and the next morning 
go by rail through Brentwood, Franklin, Columbia, Pulaski, 
Athens, Decatur, Huntsville, Stevenson and Bridgeport to Chat- 
tanooga, because we camped twice at Brentwood in 1863 — April 
7 to June 5 and August 30 — twice at Franklin — March 8 to 15 
and August 21 to 32 — and on ground where the battle of Frank- 
lin was fought in 186-1 — November 30 — and then on down the 
line indicated and up to Chattanooga as shown by my military 
journal. I find, however, that the railroad connections are so 
bad by this route as to render the trip by rail very undesirable. 
This I had partially learned before we saw Prof. Clark and when 
we left him we were debating the feasibility of running out to 
Columbia and back to-morrow morning going by way of Mur- 
freesboro to Chattanooga. This last scheme will show^ us the 
camps at Brentwood, Franklin and Columbia and the battle 
ground at Franklin, but no ground on which my command was 
in action. So, the matter settles down to a choice between the 
later programme and the Hermitage drive for to-morrow. 

After supper. We have settled the question. The Hermi- 
tage will be visited to-morrow afternoon. Beside reviewing 
camping grounds, which were merely temporary, with little of 
excitement or special interest about them, it seemed, at last, that 
the relics of the hero of New Orleans, the strong man of Ten- 
nessee, should have precedence, as we shall see Stone River field, 
at least in large part, from the train, as we approach Murfrees- 
boro to-morrow morning. 

And now, before another day breaks upon us the two strands 
of the old story, which began at Lexington, Kentucky, Septem- 
ber 2, 1863, and ended at Nashville, Tennessee, January 10, 1863, 
must be separately followed. 

As to the regiment. I may well adopt what I, substantially, 
wrote at Lee and Gordon's Mills, in acknowledgment of whicli 
the following letter was received : 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. t)7 

"No. 2-j West Fourth Street, 

CiNXiNNATi, April 12, 1864. 
Major J. T. Holmes, Fifty-second Regiment O. V. I., Gordon's Mills, 
Ga., Via Chattanooga: 

Accept our thanks for your favor of 4th inst. enclosing a History 
of yr Regiment: we shall hope for your further aid in supplying ma- 
terial for completing yr record to nearly the time of publication, so soon 
as our Editor approaches the period when he will need the information. 

Yours respectfully, 

Moore. WiLST.\cn & Baldwin." 

The editor aforesaid was Whitelaw Reid and the description 
is found in "Ohio in the War," Vohmie 2d, pages 314-316. 

The facts were derived from of^cers and men who partici- 
pated in the campaign. 

"In the evening of August 30th orders were received to march to the 
relief of General Nelson, whose troops had met with disaster at Big Hill, 
near Richmond, Kentucky. Before daylight of the following morning 
the Fifty-second Ohio had reached the Kentucky river, fifteen miles from 
Lexington. Rumors of disaster and defeat were here changed into 
certainty. The National froces had beeii completely routed, with great 
loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. 

Soon after dawn the enemy made his appearance on the opposite 
side of the river in force, and, after the interchange of a few shots be- 
tween pickets, a deliberate withdrawal of all the National forces began. 
After reaching Lexington, and remaining in its vicinity until the even- 
ing of September 1st, the regiment moved with the column, acting as 
rear-guard, toward Louisville, Kentucky. Then commenced a period of 
hardship and sufTering that surely has never been paralleled, or at least 
surpassed, in the annals of warfare. What was true of the Fifty-second 
Ohio was true of nearly every regiment in the retreating column. The 
men had not been inured to the hardships of the service; and what would 
have put to the fullest test the powers of endurance of veterans was be- 
ing suffered by raw recruits. All engaged in that march will ever re- 
member the source from whence came the greatest misery. The parched 
lips, the blood-shot eyes, the quick, smothered breathings, the uncertain, 
tottering gait, all proclaimed the thirst that was hourly consuming the 
very life-blood of those excessively wearied soldiers. The springs were 
dried up, the heat and dust were terrible, and, added to all these, was 
the momentary anticipation of an attack from the army under Kirby 
Smith, flushed with a recent victory. No language can ever portray the 
torture of those few days. 

The Fifty-second Ohio, forming, as it did. the rear-guard of the 
hastily-retreating column, came in for (if possible) an additional share 
of hardship and sufifering. If straggling among the men was possible 



68 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

in the front regiments, it was impossible among those of the rear. 
Therefore, the most exact discipline was absolutely necessary, and was 
carried out rigidly and to the letter. Men in their agony of suffering 
would reel out of the ranks and attempt to reach some inviting farm- 
yard to quench their burning thirst, but were sternly met by the Colonel 
or his Adjutant and driven back to their places. 

The retreat was ended, and the regiment went into camp at Louis- 
ville on the 6th of September, 1862. At this date the army, under Gen- 
eral Buell. in pursuit of the rebel forces under Bragg, had reached Louis- 
ville. The citizens of the city and surrounding country were in the 
greatest alarm for their safety. Kentucky was overrun by the armies of 
Generals Bragg and Kirby Smith, and an attack was momentarily ex- 
pected. Meantime the work of reorganizing and recruiting the Na- 
tional forces steadily progressed. The new regiments were placed in 
brigades and divisions. The Fifty-second Ohio, Eighty-fifth, Eighty- 
sixth, and One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois were thrown into a 
brigade. 

On the 1st of October, 1862, the regiment and brigade moved out of 
Louisville with the army, then resuming the pursuit of Bragg's retreat- 
ing forces. The rebel army was vigoruosly followed, until, at the little 
village of Perryvillc. nestled among what are called the Chaplin Hills, a 
collision occurred. The brigade in which the Fifty-second was placed 
had attacked the enemy about four o'clock on the morning of the same 
day, and carried Peter's Hill after a sharp conflict. General Bragg or- 
dered the hill retaken, and, as has since been authoritatively learned, in- 
formed the division he sent to do the work that they must take the bat- 
tery (meaning Captain Barnett's Battery I, Second Illinois), attached 
to the brigade. Bragg said to his troops: 'It is supported by green 
troops, and can easily be captured.' His troops made every effort to 
carry out their commander's orders, but were sent howling back. The 
regiment and battery, instead of giving way, stood up to their work like 
veterans. In the general attack several of the new regiments showed 
signs of demoralization, but as the fight progressed their ranks were 
closed up, and they stood firm in line until the battle was ended. 

The pursuit was resumed the next morning, and on that march the 
command was much reduced by sickness, and a large number of the 
members of the Fifty-second were compelled to go into hospitals along 
the roads clear up to Nashville. 

At Bowling Green, Kentucky, General William S. Rosecrans re- 
lieved General Buell and assumed command of the army, and the Fifty- 
second Ohio moved with what was then called the Fourteenth Army 
Corps. On reaching the vicinity of Nashville the Fifty-second and the 
other regiments of its brigade were, on the 10th of December, detailed 
as a part of the garrison of the city of Nashville, and were accordingly 
sent to that post, where they remained on duty until the 7th day of 
March. 1863. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. GU 

The Fifty-second Ohio was not immediately engaged in the battle 
of Stone river; but, while that battle was raging, the left wing of the . 
Fifty-second was detailed as a part of the force to escort an ammuni- 
tion train to the front. The enemy's cavalry were swarming in the rear, 
and the roads were closely watched by them to prevent reinforcements 
or aid of any kind reaching Rosecrans' forces. It was, therefore, a re- 
sponsible and dangerous task to perform. Seven miles from Nashville, 
near the Lunatic Asylum, on the Murfreesboro' pike, the train was at- 
tacked by a rebel cavalry force under the command of Pegram and 
Wheeler. After a brief skirmish, in which the enemy were handsomely 
repulsed, the train moved on, and reached its destination in safety. The 
conduct of the troops in this affair called forth the warmest commen- 
dation from General Rosecrans. 

The battle of Stone river being ended, the regiment returned to 
Nashville and resumed its former duties." 

From Mitchellville, Tennessee, in one of his letters to me, Sergeant 
Rogers of Company G wrote a resume of the march from Louisville. "I 
will now tell you the places touched at on our march from Louisville to 
Nashville. Places of importance; Bardstown, Springfield, Perryville, 
Harrodsburg, Danville, Lancaster, Crab Orchard, then retraced to Dan- 
ville, bore off to Lebanon, New Market, near Cave City, Bowling Green, 
Franklin, cross Kentucky line; first town in Tennessee is the present, 
Mitchellville, next, Nashville. Whole distance from Louisville, marched 
over, is five hundred and twelve miles — time thirty-eight days, making 
an average, thirteen and a half miles per day. * * If we get loaded 
to-morrow, we will leave next day for Nashville." This was November 
17, 1862. 

Now, for the other strand. In some of the spare minutes 
which followed the completion of winter quarters at McAfee's 
church, commencing February 6, 1864, and before the close of 
the outing at Chickamauga Station en the 22d of that month I 
find that I made, in an old note book, imperfect and unfinished 
sketches of the first two months in the service. From these I 
draw most of the details which follow down to the middle of Oc- 
tober, 18G2. These sketches were made when events were still 
recent and the record has not faded as much as the memory of 
many of the points of experience and observation. 

Going back a little, I take up the situation at the Kentucky 
river on the morning of August 31, 1862. 

General Nelson had passed us in a carriage on his way to 
Lexington, wounded, and it was now that our fate as a regiment 
began to look dubious. Here we were one thousand strong and 



70 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

I might safely say five hundred men of that number could not 
have loaded a Springfield rifle according to Hardee or Casey to 
save a republic. Seven hundred of those guns had never been 
fired and as for evolutions almost every oiificer and man below 
the Colonel was a complete novice. The opposite bank began 
to swarm with the foe. Company A, Captain Clark, had been 
sent down the road to the river to watch the enemy. A brisk 
skirmish soon began and if it had been the policy of our generals 
to offer battle here, the opening had been made. Such was not 
the purpose, however, and as the sun began to climb above the 
treetops and heat the dust-laden air the retreat commenced. 
Slowly the troops filed out of the fields upon the pike and struck 
out for Lexington. 

The day grew intensely hot before noon and a few random 
shots at the new recruits just as they started back had made their 
speed, as well as the flow of blood through their veins, more 
rapid. These raw levies were well accoutred, each man carrying 
the full allowance of a soldier. When the first piece of artillery 
sent its messenger after us, it was amusing to see the string of 
government blankets making its way speedily from the marching 
column into the fence corners at the roadside. There proved to 
be no occasion for alarm, although there was no time to be lost. 

Shortly after noon, the heavens opened their windows and 
the floods came. When this began we were eight miles from 
Lexington. Struggling on through the blinding sheets of rain 
and the mire which soon gathered on the pike, we reached the 
city at dusk to find it crowded with troops that had arrived by 
other roads from Richmond. We found quarters for our men, 
some in the Court House, some in a vacant hall, and wherever 
there was room soldiers were stowed away to sleep without food 
or drink. Lieutenant Rothacker and myself purchased for the 
company some -$4.00 worth of bread and distributed it. I then 
turned my attention to my own condition. Before starting on 
the march I should have put on my boots, but in the bustle and 
hurry they were forgotten. My feet, marching in the thin gaiters, 
were bruised and chafed by the stones and when it began to rain, 
after we started on the retreat, the shoes bursted and left me 
nearly no protection for my understanding. After distributing to 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 71 

"the men the provision we had purchased, I took off the remain- 
ing parts of the shoes, wrung out my socks, spread down a damp 
blanket on a muddy floor and, with every garment saturated, lay 
down to sleep. Lieutenant Rothacker lay on one side of me, 
while Will Heberling, a member of the Ninety-eighth O. V. I., 
Colonel Webster, lay on the other. We talked a while of proba- 
bilities and possibilities and then fell asleep. 

Monday morning, September 1, we were aroused early and 
the regiment having been gathered from its widespread resting 
place moved out to the old camp. I felt wearied, wearied almost 
to death. From the morning of the 11th of August, mind and 
body had been on a constant tension ; I had rested but little, prob- 
ablv an average of less than two hours in each twenty-four. Na- 
ture was giving away, completely exhausted. When we reached 
the camp I lay down to rest with but one thought, '"tired, tired, 
tired." I fell asleep in an instant and all idea of the flight of time 
•as well as the flight of the Union army was completel}' lost for 
thirty hours. I dimly remembered afterward that some time 
through the day, I was partially aroused by some one washing 
my face and hands with cold water. I recognized Joe Swan as 
•the person and heard some one say, "He's got a fever." I was 
asleep again immediately and only recall the fact that I was car- 
ried and laid down in the hospital tent in camp. At the end of 
thirty hours, or noon Tuesday, September 2, 1862, I awoke to 
find myself in the hotel with my brother. E. P. Douglas and John 
R. Berrv, while the famous guerilla chief, John H. Morgan, was 
riding past the window at the head of his wild rangers. I was a 
prisoner of war ! ! In the hands of Rebels before I had been in 
the field two weeks ! ! Here was a go. I learned from the boys 
that the enemy had taken possession of the city in the night. 
Berry, Cook, Rex and Douglas had been captured that morning 
at dawn, about eight miles out on the Versailles pike in a vain 
endeavor to overtake the regiment which had moved ofT on the 
retreat about midnight. They had been within a mile and a half 
of it when captured. My brother and Mode Cook had remained 
to take care of myself. In the confusion. Colonel McCook's or- 
der that I should be put into an ambulance and taken along with 
the retreating column was overlooked or disobeyed. From all 



72 FiFTV-SECOND O. V. I. 

that I afterward learned, the excitement and confusion were great 
and my being abandoned was a pure oversight. Army supplies 
in considerable quantities, which could not be transported in the 
retreat, were committed to the flames and there was hurrying to 
and fro which, in greater or less degree, lacked system or method. 

I was fevered and weak, but after waking was not so far gone 
as not to observe the rejoicings of the inhabitants at the ingress 
of the hordes of rebellion. Young and"^ old. all sexes, colors and 
conditions strewed the path of Morgan with boucjuets and rent 
the air with shouts for "John Morgan and Jefif Devis." Morgan 
was the jauntiest, sauciest looking rider I ever saw on horseback. 
From where I lay, I saw recruits fall into his column. Every 
evidence then recjuisite was on the tapis to show Lexington a 
rebel city. I lay and listened to the turmoil and confusion of 
Kirby Smith's column passing through the streets. Almost 
every regiment that passed my window had "Shiloh" upon its 
banner. Their men were worn down with marching. They had 
no knapsacks and very few haversacks. Their arms and accou- 
trements were good for they had just been the captors of im- 
mense stores at Richmond as well as Lexington. Kirby Smith 
made a speech in front of the Phoenix Hotel, in which he told 
the people that his forces were without provisions and must take 
them from the country, but that every one who furnished any- 
thing for the army should be paid full value therefor ; in Confed- 
erate scrip, of course ! There is no doubt as to the provisions 
having been taken for the use of the Rebel army, but I hardly 
think that every one who furnished them was amply remunerated 
even in Confederate bills. 

From 4: o'clock p. m. of September 1, my own experience 
and that of the regiment became separate. At that hour, I had 
been taken to the hotel and the regiment had moved south about 
two miles to lie in line of battle until night. It had gone back 
through the city in the night and was then away for Louisville. 
Kentucky. 

After the oath was administered and the parole delivered to 
me by the little, embarrassed rebel lieutenant, who had been con- 
ducted to my room by Mode Cook, I tried my strength by pull- 
ing on my boots and standing on my feet. Holding to the railing 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. T3 

of the bed I was able to take a few steps. With a determination 
that might have proved very injudicious, I said to the men who 
were with me, ''We will leave this place immediately." Sending 
to the landlord, a good Union man, by the way, for my hotel bill, 
I paid it and having the trusty pastry ccok, who had concealed 
my sword by thrusting it into some obscure chimney about the 
building, bring it to the room, and after seeing my trunk stowed 
away in the luggage room for future reference, we sallied forth 
about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. To conceal the sword, which 
had been presented to me by the ladies of Richmond on the after- 
noon of August '20th, just before we left for Steubenville, Ross E. 
Rex dropped it between his pants and draw^ers, leaving the hilt 
under his blouse at the left elbow. To add to the deceit he had 
cut a hole in the upper of his left shoe and walked with a cane a 
little lame. 

We started up the Covington pike, and although my 
strength often came near dishonoring the requisition made on it 
and my gait was one of great weakness, yet by 10 o'clock at night 
we had traveled eleven miles. Here I was compelled to stop and 
rest until morning. We lay down first on some rough timbers 
near a barn, some of the men going into the barn itself. It soon 
became evident that tlie spot would not serve for sleeping pur- 
poses ; there had been hogs about that wood pile ! Some forty 
rods away in another field I discovered a couple of hay ricks and 
to these we repaired. The squad which had been captured from 
my company was all along with me save Mord. M. Cock, who 
had started for Ohio as soon as he was paroled, and we could not 
tell where he might be at that time. We lay down in the hay 
stacks and slept an hour or two, when the members of the squad 
began creating a disturbance on the subject of fleas. For three 
or four hours every now and then I would be awakened by the 
crowd cursing the fleas they had caught in and about the barn 
and the wood pile. Aroused in this way along toward morning 
and feeling fretful and nervous, as the sick are often wont to feel, 
and not being more than half awake, yet knowing there was some 
profanity being added to that of the preceding hours, I said, 
"You fellows are doing a great deal of unnecessary swearing." 
When the laucfh that followed had subsided and 1 was entirely 



74 Fifty-second (). V. I. 

awake I comprehended how it was fully justified, for opposed, as 
I was known to be, to such waste of words, it seemed from the 
remark that a limited degree, or amount, of swearing under such 
conditions might be necessary. 

At daylight of the 5th we moved along the pike again. It 
was without any breakfast, however, for Douglas had taken off 
his shoulder, my haversack, which the Broadway landlord had 
plentifully filled with ham and bread and other substantials, at our 
first resting place outside of Lexington, and wdien we started for- 
ward had left it on the ground. Some hungry rebel, no doubt, 
had a good dinner out of it. We were only a mile from George- 
town. In sight of that comely village before we came to it we 
saw a fine residence, perhaps thirty rods off the pike to our left. 
It had a very homelike appearance and after we went up to it we 
discovered that it did not belie its looks. The owner, a Union 
man, by the name of Thomas, was then in Cincinnati to escape 
persecution. Mrs. Thomas was at home, however, and showed 
herself one of God's noblewomen. Probably thirty-five years of 
age, she was still a dashing, sensible beauty ; slightly below me- 
dium height, fresh complexion, nervous in action, with a dark, 
intelligent eye. One would pronounce her at first sight a com- 
plete lady — sound in body and mind, in the prime of life and in 
the full enjoyment of every power and that right well cultivated. 

She gave us a welcome that was unmistakable in its sin- 
cerity, ordering a breakfast that an epicure might have enjoyed 
and to which we sat down with infinite relish, in the meantime 
entertaining us with descriptions of her courage when their prop- 
erty was within rebel lines. Her husband being known as a 
staunch Union man, whenever the rebels gained possession of the 
country, was compelled to flee north for safety. She had not 
been troubled much in the rebel advance that was then going on, 
but in May preceding when Morgan had made his famous raid 
he had pitched his headquarters in Georgetown, and the result 
was considerable annoyance. Morgan had sent a squad of sol- 
diers after her fine horses one day and the squad had gone back 
without the animals, although they stood hitched in the stables 
close by and Mrs. Thomas offered to show them the stock, add- 
ing, however, that they could not take one hoof away unless it 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 75. 

went over her dead body. The squad did not visit the stables, 
and, somewhat cowed, reported to Morgan the state of the case. 
He cursed them and ordered a stronger force to go and bring in 
the horses forthwith and not be scared by a woman. Mrs. 
Thomas, in telHng me this incident merely observed that "when 
they came back the second time there were no horses in the 
stables and they couldn't find one about the farm. I had put 
them away." She didn't say where, but I think if Morgan's men 
had looked in the cellar of her house they would have found not 
only the horses but even the fine carriage which, in his wrath, the 
General had ordered brought to himself. The lady's conversa- 
tion was interesting both in subject and manner. She heartily 
disliked rebels and as heartily rejoiced to be able to assist Union 
soldiers. For example, while we were making way with the 
breakfast set before us, a couple of rebel soldiers came into the 
front yard and said they wanted breakfast. She simply said, 
"You can't have any. I've fed enough such, and you'd better go 
away." They went, and after conversing a short time and refus- 
ing to let her detain the "Captain" until he should grow stronger 
and more fit to travel, we set out with many thanks for her hospi- 
tality and kind offers. I determined not soon to forget that wo- 
man and if ever opportunity offered to visit her home again. 
Such women are like angels' visits. 

I had almost neglected to notice that a member of ^lorgan's 
band had made a rebel soldier dismount his horse and let me ride 
three or four miles the evening previous. The Morgan soldier 
was a short, waddling kind of fellow, fond of fun. and at the 
time we joined company, about two sheets in the wind, with the 
third fluttering. After I had mounted he gave me his gun to 
carry, jocularly remarking, "I reckon you won't shoot." From 
the Thomas home we went on to Georgetown, and as the Sep- 
tember sun was growing warm we stopped to rest in the shade 
of a tree at the corner of two streets soon after entering the place. 
Young ladies were flirting and flaunting back and forth, up and 
down street, talking of their lovers who had paid them a flying 
visit as the rebel army moved north. Their noses were either 
elevated in supreme disgust or their faces averted in marked con- 
tempt whenever their eyes fell en our little group of Union sol- 



76 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

diers. There was one sharp contrast. It was a lady who, the 
moment she discovered us, came down a street from the right, 
I suppose from her own dwelling, and while we sat in the presence 
of the flirting class utterly regardless of the opinion of her rebel 
sisters, said: "Boys, can I do anything to help you? Do you 
want anything to eat?" I thanked her. We had just had break- 
fast. "Ah !" said she, "for I don't allow Union soldiers to go 
through here hungry while I can feed them," and she cast a look 
of bold independence towards a couple of the young lassies who 
exhibited but little sympathy with her or the objects of her solici- 
tude. She went back to her house and sent her little girl and boy 
with a dipper and pail of cool water to us. We drank, and grate- 
ful to our benefactress, without learning her name, started for 
our next station, Williamstown, about thirty miles distant. 

Soon after leaving Georgetown we crossed a branch of Eagle 
creek and at the end of another mile, having tarried a while at the 
bridge, we came to the residence of the then Governor Robinson 
of Kentucky. It w-as a fine place, not having sufifered from the 
havoc of war. We climbed a stone wall and lay down in the 
shade of catawbas and catalpas. The top of the wall was just 
even with the earth on the upper side. While lying here con- 
cealed from the sun's scorching rays a contraband with a load of 
wood for some resident of Georgetown came along. We told 
him to hurry back with his team and he should be well paid for 
taking us on our way four or five miles. In due time he returned 
and we mounted his wagon. It rumbled along the specified dis- 
tance, I gave Cufiy a dollar, and we took our feet for it again. 
About 3 o'clock p. m. we brought up at a house, fagged in the 
extreme, having procured a substantial dinner at 12, with some 
clever people, wdio cautioned us about some marauders that in- 
fested the pike a few miles farther on near Big Eagle creek. Im- 
portuning the man a very little at whose house we had stopped, 
upon the strength of $10, promised, he agreed to risk his wagon 
and team and haul us through to Williamstown, eighteen miles. 

At 9 o'clock p. m., having crossed the Big Eagle, we stopped 
for the night at a tavern. The landlord could give us no quar- 
ters, and as a consequence we slept out, some in the crib, while 
one or two of the party made the night in the wagon. Our num- 



Camps and Battle-fields REvisrrEn. 77 

ber had increased to nine, three having been picked up along the 
way after we had hired the wagon. When breakfast time came 
the provision for it was ahiiost hke the chance for a bed had been 
the night before — sHm. x\s soon as the scanty allowance was 
swallowed and paid for our team was ready, and we bowled awav 
for Williamstown. By 10 o'clock we arrived, and squaring up 
A\ith the driver, he set out on his return, and I hope saved his 
team from the needy paws of Kirby Smith's quartermasters ! 
Here another team was procured, and at dusk by rapid driving 
over a splendid pike, we entered the little town of Independence, 
seven or eight miles from Covington. The teamster would go no 
farther, for at that time the authorities were considerably alarmed 
for the safety of Covington and Cincinnati, and every man with a 
team was pressed into service preparing defenses, and our driver 
did not relish getting himself and horses into business of that kind 
at least. 

I had improved in health and strength rapidly, and while 
tarrying in this town a few moments preparatory to setting out 
for Covington, an old man, I should judge his age to have been 
eighty years, at least, came up to me and very sociably began to 
converse on the subject of the rebellion. He noticed I had a 
sword which Rex had carried the entire distance and which there 
was no further necessity for concealing, as we were out of the 
rebel lines. 

I had no straps, a darky in Lexington having stolen both 
straps and blouse, said he, "Are you an ofificer?" "Yes, sir," I 
replied. "Where have you been?" "I Juwc been very recently 
taken prisoner." "How did that come?" I told the man the 
particulars as briefly as I could. He listened and when I became 
silent, looking me steadily in the eye, while his burned with 
brighter light, he said : "Young man, I was a soldier in 1812 ; I 
fought for my country and love her still. T know what soldiering 
is, and now mark me, they'll never catch you sick again. I can 
see it in your eye." I thanked him for the compliment he paid 
my strength of constitution and in a little time parted from him 
wondering why the old man should break away into prophecies 
concerning the military future of a perfect stranger. We con- 
cluded to make Covington before we slept and accordingly turned 



78 Fifty-second O. A". I. 

our footsteps in that direction. About U o'clock we fell in with a 
squad of our cavalry. It proved to be Captain Rogers from 
Maysville. He had been out on a scout and had a wagon along. 
It was dark and the Captain had serious misgivings about per- 
mitting us to ride in the wagon. After we did climb in he rode 
alongside and peered at us in the night, saying, "This may be all 
right, but if it isn't. I've got the men here to make it so." I as- 
sured him that he had no cause for alarm for he would find us. 
just what we purported to be — prisoners of war paroled and on 
our way to Camp Chase, Ohio. The Captain shared in the ner- 
vous anxiety which just at that time pervaded all circles there- 
abouts respecting the Queen City of the west and her companion 
over the river. He came, however, to look a little less seriously 
at the matter as we jogged and talked along in the darkness. 
Presently we strvick the picket line and for two miles, even to the 
inner gates of the city, we were halted every forty rods by pickets. 
These passed, we found quarters with the Captain and his men, 
under guard, until the morning of the 7th dawned when we bade 
him good-by and after procuring a pass at the Provost Marshal's 
crossed the pontoon to Cincinnati. Here we stopped at the Gib- 
son House, room G2. 

Cincinnati was at that time thronged with troops, come to 
her defense. Among the thousands that crowded her thorough- 
fares drilling, marching from position to position, and engaged 
in the necessary daily pursuits of life was that genius, long to be 
remembered, the squirrel hunter. You might see him on every 
corner and sidewalk, wandering listlessly about, w'aiting for the 
rebels to attack the city. In many instances he had, no doubt, 
never been out of his native wilds and in a great city before, and 
while he had time was round seeing the sights. These were earn- 
est men. however, and their long hunting riiles would have told 
fearfullv at short range, as witness the battle of New Orleans. 
Each man carried his quilt or blanket, a haversack and a w^ell- 
stored shot pouch. Leaving the busy street, after making a few 
purchases to supply the places of what had been lost, I withdrew 
to my room and addressed myself to the task of giving Lieuten- 
ant Rothacker a brief description of our fate and wanderings. I 
was very anxious to hear of my company and its course — how its 



Camps and Battle-fields Revlsited. 79 

members had fared — if any others had met with the same mishap 
as ourselves and desiring in the main and at the conchision to 
know ah that had befallen them both as a body and as individuals, 
for I esteemed every man in the company as a brother. Having 
a general idea that the retreat of our army had been towards 
Louisville, I gave my letter that direction and mailed it. 

On the morning of the 8th. having procured transportation 
for myself and squad to Columbus, where all such paroled prison- 
ers were ordered to report as the nearest station — Jefiferson Bar- 
racks, Missouri, and Annapolis, Maryland, being the other ren- 
dezvous for prisoners, we boarded the first available train. Be- 
fore noon we were in the city and had reported to the military 
commandant. Captain A. B. Dod. I met at his office Sergeant 
John Porter of the Second O. V. I., with whom I had formed 
some acquaintance on the 11th of August, his brother. Stiles W.. 
as well as brother Emory, having been students at the Richmond 
College, the former being at the time a private in my company, 
having been discharged from the Second Ohio some months 
before. He was slightly amused to see me in Columbus again 
within a month a prisoner of war. In my frame of mind I could 
not appreciate the joke. We took a 'bus for Camp Chase and 
when we landed in that desolate looking place we found some 
acquaintances, members of the Seventy-first O. V. I., in our own 
condition ; they had been captured about two weeks previously 
at Clarksville, Tenn. 

At Camp Chase, in barracks built for rebel prisoners, we 
had nothing in the wide world to do but kill time reading news- 
papers and thinking. I had time to review the past month — to 
think quietly of all that had occurred in it in which I was per- 
sonally concerned. I thought of the hurried trip to Columbus 
on the 11th of August to procure a recruiting commission, of 
my busy feet and hands during the succeeding eight days, of the 
night visits and speeches at Springfield, Salem, Unionport, Rich- 
mond, and so on, of the many words spoken for the care and 
safety of the husbands, brothers and sons who had been entrust- 
ed to my charge by patriotic fathers and mothers, wives, sisters 
and kindred spirits, of our organization and equipment at Camp 
Dennison, our trip to Lexington and the quasi sortie to the Ken- 



80 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

tucky river, of the return, the sickness, the capture and the 
shouts of victorious rebels, of the starting to walk that eighty- 
four miles of pike from Lexington to Covington, of the whole- 
souled but boozy Morgan raider who made his brother rebel dis- 
mount that I might ride — I don't know that editors generally 
love a nip, but I do know that this former editor of the "Vicks- 
burg Whig," for such he confidently asserted himself to have 
been, was over jolly — of the "unnecessary" swearing, of Mrs. 
Thomas and her unknown compeer, of the Robinson plantation 
and the Sambo who said, "Fellows mus git out o' de wagon here, 
cause Massa's house isn't bery fur away, and if he'd see you all 
in it, he'd lick me," of our other drivers and conveyances, of the 
old soldier's prediction, of our stay at Covington and Cincinnati, 
the trip to and arrival at Camp Chase, of the fate of my company 
and its trials, of the rumors of disaster that must reach home be- 
fore any communication of mine could set things in their proper 
light, of the long and tedious days and weeks before me during 
which I should be only waiting exchange, of these and many 
other persons and things, and from all I could draw but little 
consolation. It was a plain case, however; a paroled prisoner, 
I must await the movements of the authorities in whose hands 
might rest the power of exchange. That exchange might take 
place sooner or later and it mattered not how patiently or impa- 
tiently I might endure my prison days. 

So ends the first brief chapter of my military career. 

Six companies of the Seventy-first O. V. L had been cap- 
tured about the last of August. They had heard, through Mord. 
Cock, who had preceded us two days, that we were coming and 
they were prepared to welcome us, not "with bloody hands to 
hospitable graves," but, with its miseries and monotony, to com- 
panionship in prison life. 

The names of special acquaintances among them were Har- 
vey McGown, orderly sergeant Company K ; Wilbur McCue, 
commonly called "Doc," from his being an embryo dentist ; 
Henry Jackman, John Werntz, John Reed and Billy Stewart. 
This squad, with two other members, had volunteered at Rich- 
mond in September, 18G1. They had, after various changes at 
Camp Dennison, been transferred to the Seventy-first, Colonel 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 81 

Rodney Mason, and when Grant's expedition moved up the Ten- 
nessee in the spring- of 1863, the Seventy-first was along. When 
the memorable battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburgh Landing, was 
fought on Sunday and Monday. April (I and 7, 1863, the regi- 
ment was among the first to suffer. Mason showed the white 
feather in the outset of the fight and Kyle, the Lieutenant Col- 
onel, being soon killed, the regiment went all to pieces in the 
battle. 

Thomas P. McFarren. a private of Company K, a recruit 
from Richmond, and an estimable young man, was mortally 
wounded early in the engagement and left in the hands of the 
enemy. He died in a few hours and had been found and buried 
by his comrades after the conflict was over. Will Hamilton, 
another of the original squad, held commission as Second Lieu- 
tenant of Company K. Having become separated from his com- 
pany in Sunday's fight and defeat, he took command of a com- 
pany in an Iowa regiment, which had lost its officers, and fought 
gallantly through all of Monday's struggle. The sounds of strife 
died away. Our army, like a human being, had been knocked 
down on Sunday and by the aid of General Buell's reinforce- 
ments had gotten on its feet on Monday. "But the unlucky 
Seventy-first O. V. L, what of it?" Although it had as good 
material in it as any from Ohio, it was unfortunate in its Colonel, 
and in disgrace, through his conduct. With colors taken away, 
it was put on a transport and conveyed to Fort Donelson. PVom 
this place, six companies were afterwards sent to garrison 
Clarksville, and wdien in August a flag of truce was sent in bv the 
rebels demanding a surrender the Colonel, after sending Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Andrews out to ascertain the enemy's force, and 
the latter representing it as overwhelming, having called a con- 
sultation of the officers, capitulated, surrendering at discretion. 
They were put on board a steamer for the north and when 
near the mouth of the Cumberland, about !» o'clock at night. 
Lieutenant Hamilton rose from his seat on deck, remarking that 
he believed he w^ould go to bed. There was a barge alongside in 
which some of the regiment slept, and as he walked down the 
plank to enter the barge he lost his footing and fell between the 
two crafts as thev were in brisk motion. He was gone forever. 



82 FlFTY-SECOXD O. A'. I. 

The steamer rounded to and search was made, but no Hamilton 
greeted their eyes or answered the call of the crew. A body was 
found some miles below a few days after and buried on the bank 
of the stream ; it was supposed to have been his, but the truth was 
never known to a certainty. He was a rollicking, hair-brained, 
jovial companion and had passed unscathed through the two, 
then greatest battles of the war, to meet his end in the waters of 
the Cumberland. He had been in Bull Run and Shiloh. 

While coming up the Ohio Lieutenant Colonel Andrews 
had prepared a document exonerating Colonel Mason from all 
blame in the surrender, as some Ohio papers were beginning to 
call loudly for Mason's dismissal from the service. To this paper 
Andrews procured the name of every commissioned officer then 
with the six companies. Driving a point that none l)ut himsslf 
then saw he withheld his own name from the paper, although a 
space had been left for it at the head of the list and all the oflficers 
expected, as he was so much interested in pushing the matter 
through, that they were seconding the laudable efforts of the 
Lieutenant Colonel to secure justice for Colonel Mason and that 
the blank would be filled "G. W. Andrews, Lieutenant Colonel, 
Seventy-first O. \'^. L" Not so. He folded the paper and 
quietly forwarded it to Washington, D. C. In about ten days, 
every ofificer whose name was on the paper, along with Colonel 
Mason, was dismissed from the service. 

Andrews had succeeded. He had seen that Mason would 
be dismissed and that, too, for surrendering upon the strength of 
representations made by himself when he had returned from the 
inspection of the rebel force demanding the surrender, and he 
thought to make a clean thing of it by getting the old company 
officers committed to Mason's cause and fate. His object was to 
curry favor by filling the vacancies with men of his own choice 
and moulding. He never said the rebel force against them at? 
Clarksville was small enough to have been whipped by the six 
companies until after the surrender took place. In the council 
he reported their force at two thousand with two pieces of artil- 
lery and advised surrender. It was a cunning, a crafty thing to 
do. I give these statements as I received them from reliable 
officers and men of the command. Justice is often slow of foot, 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 83 

but exceeding sure. The personal popularity of Rodney Mason, 
even in his disgrace, seemed to be greater with the men of this 
regiment than that of his astute Lieutenant Colonel. 

On the 9th of September, then, we fairly entered upon a 
paroled prisoner life, bound by an oath administered by traitors 
not to make war upon traitors until duly exchanged. The pros- 
pect was peculiarly galling to me, in that I was so soon taken 
from the men to whom I had pledged my care and services, 
through good and ill, as soldier and officer. Day followed day 
for some three weeks and I had watched the papers for all that 
might be said of prisoners and of the army in Kentucky. I had, 
too, about the IGth of September received a reply from Lieu- 
tenant Rothacker. He simply stated that they had reached 
Louisville ; suffering from scarcity of water had been great, and 
that he was not well. The details for which I was anxious had 
been somehow, in the fullest degree, omitted. I took the claim 
of ill health as the reason and wrote again, being still more ex- 
plicit in my inquiries after particulars. I received for reply in 
due time the substance of his first communication and gave up as 
a bad job the effort to obtain details of the information desired. 

I was placed in command of a company of what was then 
called the second paroled regiment. It had been Company K, of 
the Seventy-first, and included those of Company G, Fifty-sec- 
ond, who had been taken prisoners. We had in the three weeks 
heard and told our whole war experience and it only remained 
afterward to be an oft-repeated story. We had listened to all the 
songs that the merry ones could sing over and over again. The 
rations for the men were good and sufficient ; the officers took 
meals at a temporary eating house or saloon established near 
post headquarters. 

By some blunder in orders about fifteen hundred eastern 
troops, that had just been captured at South Mountain and the 
second battle of Bull Run, had been shipped through to Camp 
Chase over the B. & O. R. R. They came into camp minus 
everything save a scanty suit of clothing on each man. They 
were disorganized, demoralized, and they remained without or- 
ganization while in Camp Chase. Scores upon scores of them 
went back bv returning eastern trains, and daily for a month men 



84 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

were smuggling themselves through to the eastern states. Some 
remained and concluded to await orders, let who might blunder. 

About five days of the time previous to the 1st of October 1 
boarded in the city with a Mrs. Ford, at the southwest corner or 
North High and Spring streets. 

Taking advantage of the loose regulations then existing in 
camp the boys had all, at different dates, made trips to their re- 
spective homes. The first of our squad to break away was Mode 
Cook, or "the fighting Quaker," as he was sometimes called, for 
he had been born and reared in the faith of that strictly non-com- 
batant sect and in the bosom of the Quaker Church. He struck 
out for home the morning after our arrival in camp. I was 
slightly opposed to Mode's being the first to reach home to tell 
the story of our adventures, because I knew he talked very rap- 
idly, and I suspected the tints in some of his high colorings might 
be viewed as too strong for the originals to justify. He was ofif, 
however, and as I expected a few large stories grew out of his 
sayings. He would not purposely color the truth, but his enthu- 
siasm sometimes ran away with him and incorrect conclusions 
were liable to be drawn from his statements. 

It flew over Jefferson and Harrison counties that Captain 
Holmes had gone insane, become a maniac, in three weeks' sol- 
diering. My father and mother were ready to start for Colum- 
bus to find me in the Insane Asylum, but happily for them and 
myself my brother reached home the evening before that ap- 
pointed for the trip and set their anxiety and fears at rest by in- 
forming them that I had the usual amount of common sense 
when he left me the morning of that same day and to his knowl- 
edge I had not been crazy, and he supposed the rumor grew out 
of the fact that I had been luicoiiscioits when taken prisoner. 
During this three weeks I met a sister of Cook's, Mrs. Annie 
Cunningham, -at the American Hotel, and after a pleasant chat 
we separated, she and Mode going north. 

x\bout the 1st of October all paroled officers and soldiers 
were ordered out of Columbus to Camp Chase. General Lew 
Wallace had been sent by the administration to take command of 
the paroled forces in and about Camp Chase. He came with his 
immense, gaudily-dressed and gaily-caparisoned staff out to 



Cazvips and Battle-fields Revisited. 85 

camp to make a speech to the unfortunates. Sitting on his horse, 
after the prisoners had been mustered in the open parade ground, 
he said : "The Secretary of War has sent me here to take com- 
mand of you. I find you poorly clad, almost naked. I find vour 
camps filthy and many of you in ill health. I find you without 
organization or discipline. I propose to correct these evils, to 
clothe and feed you well, to move you to a new camp and pitch 
my tent by the side of yours, to live with you and share your lot. 
I propose to draw arms for you and to institute drills and discip- 
line and then, as the savage hosts of the northwest are butcher- 
ing the inhabitants of our frontier indiscriminately, we will go to 
their relief. Such a course will not be a violation of your pa- 
roles. Your oath binds you not to take up arms against the 
southern confederacy. This will be an entirely different matter 
and by the time you have crushed the Indians you will be ex- 
changed and can again take your places in your old regiments to 
war against rebels, every mother's son of whom richly deserves 
death. These things will be done ; they may be depended upon." 

I have often thought : "A penny for your thoughts. Gen- 
eral, as you rode away from that assembly of tattered American 
soldiers." There was an evident look of approval upon every 
face when he talked of feeding and clothing them well ; everyone 
was pleased with the proposition to have plenty to eat and good 
clothes to wear, but all other proposals of the General failed to 
meet the approbation of the motley mass. These men under- 
stood their obligation, under the existing cartel, as excluding 
them from the use of arms and prohibiting expressly all camp 
and parade duties that would put weapons in their hands and 
tend to render them more elificient soldiers. 

The nature of the soldier or his natural turn to do no more 
than the most indubitably legal orders called for strongly sec- 
onded this interpretation of the obligations imposed by the cartel 
agreed upon between the United States and the so-called Con- 
federate States of America. Where, through the General's 
brief harangue, one might have expected lusty cheers from sol- 
diers eager for the camp and field, all were silent, or if not, it 
would be a low murmur, "He don't get us to go hunting In- 
dians." "We volunteered to fight rebels and don't go on any 



8G Fifty-second O. V. I. 

such wild goose chase as this." My impression was that General 
Wallace would conclude on his way back to the city that paroled 
prisoners were not the easiest troops in the world to command 
and, altogether likely, there was a grave doubt in his mind as to 
whether any man could induce them to go very enthusiastically 
for Indians just then. After dispersing, the expressions of the 
men became loud and emphatic as to doing duty and chasing red 
men. Some were so profane as to say they would "See Lew 
Wallace in h — 1 in the middle kettle before they would go to Min- 
nesota while paroled prisoners." 

Notwitstanding his unfavoral)le reception, however, he be- 
gan the work of organizing all the paroled forces into companie? 
and regiments and transferring them to a newly-authorized and 
established camp four miles north of Columbus on the Cleveland 
railroad ; the troops in each case receiving pay as they passed 
from Camp Chase through the city to the new camp. Lew Wal- 
lace. The soldiers were thankful to General Wallace for the suc- 
cess of his efforts to secure them pay, and many of them, eastern 
and western troops, were so glad that as soon as the money was 
securely in hand their joy carried them to a cheap clothing store 
and then the money and the cars took them home to their loved 
ones, not to be seen in a camp of paroled men again so long as 
they could avoid a visit. 

The transfer of the Third regiment paroled forces from 
Camp Chase to Camp Lew Wallace occurred on the 9th day of 
October. My company, K, therein, mustered one hundred and 
eight men before it began the march from camp to the city and 
the same number stood in line on the steps of the east front of the 
Capitol when the first man was called to step forward to the win- 
dow of the Attorney General's ofBce and receive his pay. The 
paymaster sat inside that office. 

Before payment began, I instructed the men to report as 
speedily as possible at Camp Lew Wallace, at the same time con- 
vinced that a very large proportion of them would not obey the 
order. As the call proceeded the attendance at the pay window 
was prompt, even eager, and the steps were light and speedy as 
the boys passed around or through the State House toward High 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 87 

street. Each seemed to have some important business in hand 
which he did not stay to explain, and no one said "good-by." 

My Heutenants were Alfred Cross and Francis M. Hoskins 
of Company E, Third Tennessee Infantry. We came last to the 
pay window and when we turned away from it not a man of our 
company was anywhere in sight. 

This was Thursday ; on Friday morning only ten men of the 
company answered roll call. In the course of a few days some 
of the stragglers reported, but the company never at any time 
reached thirty men in camp. 

The Third regiment had one thousand men on its muster 
rolls, yet on the 13th day of October, 1862, four days after it had 
been paid off, eight hundred and fifty were absent without leave ! 
Some of them in citizens clothes remained about Columbus and 
occasionally rode out to look at our location. Most of them 
never saw Camp Lew Wallace. The reasons for all this were 
not far to seek. Prison life like that was monotonous, stupid, 
irksome. The men desired to see their home friends and the lat- 
ter desired to have them at home. 

No real prejudice could come to the service from such ab- 
sence and it required a keen argument with the army regulations 
in hand to demonstrate that there was much common sense in the 
efifort to keep such men in camp at such a time. The shadow of 
a camp remained while the substance was scattered from Maine 
to the Mississippi. It did not furnish even a rallying point for 
information or exchange movements. The men learned through 
the public press and in many other ways of their exchanges and 
of the consequent duty to report to their regiments. The army 
was spread in various ways like a living telegraph all over the 
northern states — everywhere in rear of the lines at the front down 
south — and notice of the duty to take up arms again set the ab- 
sentees in motion to rejoin their commands by direct routes from 
their homes. It cannot be proved mathematically, but I venture 
the statement that ninety and nine out of every hundred of those 
men took their places in the ranks, at the front, soon after ex- 
change. 

It was no doubt a minor consideration, but some of the un- 
attractive features of that camp life determined many of the boys 



88 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

to endure no more of it. General Wallace had told them in his 
little speech that he found them poorly clad ; in ill health ; their 
camps filthy. 

In this year of grace, 18!>T, for the first time, I find in a letter 
written home by my brother. A. R., October 3, 1863, humorous 
corroboration of part of the General's statement. The writer 
was discussing the order which had just been made for organiza- 
tion into companies and regiments and removal from the old to 
the new camp. He said : 

"On any condition, it will be preferable to staying here and being 
plagued by fleas or devoured by rats. Now, may be you think that is 
extravagant, but then just think of it; our fleas are not common fleas 
and our rats are most uncommon rats. The first are bigger than house 
flies and the latter can stand on their hind legs and take a three pound 
loaf from a table three feet high ; and when the camp grows quiet after 
dark, they are so thick that their pattering sounds like a small squad of 
cavalry on the floor of our quarters, and when they go out on a foraging 
expedition we have to keep a sharp lookout or a whole day's rations will 
disappear." 

The Ninety-fifth O. V. I., Colonel McMillen, captured in the 
Richmond. Kentucky, fight, the last of August, was encamped 
on our left at Lew Wallace. An effort to enforce discipline in 
that regiment, sometime during the month of November, per- 
haps it was, resulted in some bad blood among the men ; it was 
almost bloodshed. A detachment was imprisoned in the guard 
house for some sort of supposed insubordination or ofifense, and 
if my memory is not at fault the men released them and the guard 
house somehow caught fire and burned down the same night. 
Things had an ominous look for an hour or two. but the feeling 
subsided and no great harm resulted. The fact was, as 1 have in- 
dicated, the time and the place were not appropriate for the en- 
forcement of rigid discipline. This was the only really stirring 
incident in the camp during the two months which I spent there. 

The line officers and men were C|uartered in comfortable 
wall tents ; headquarters" business was done in temporary pine 
board structures. For a considerable part of the time the offi- 
cers took their meals at an eating house perhaps fifty rods in rear 
of the line of our camp toward the south and on a line between 
Camp Thomas and the Cleveland railroad. Camp Thomas was 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 89 

near the Worthington pike, now North High street, and Camp 
Lew Wallace was up on the hill northeast, about half way from 
Camp Thomas to the railroad. North Columbus w^as about one 
mile in front and a little to the left of our line. One of its kind- 
hearted residents several times called to see me and politely in- 
vited me to his house to break bread with himself and his family, 
but it is my recollection that I never visited his home, and, like 
the Lexington landlord, wdiile his person and face remain in 
memory, his name has long since taken its departure. 

Frequent trips were made to the city and sometimes a few 
davs and nights were passed in the enjoyment of a good room 
and good meals at the American House, but for the most part I 
stuck to the camp, the wall tent and the rough pine Ijoard eating 
house. As the cold weather came on, I purchased a stove for 
companv headquarters and we did our best to keep warm. After 
the middle of November we often found it less chilly about the 
large stove in Colonel Rathbone's pine board shanty, or in the 
eating house, and repaired thither. There was no drill ; there 
was no labor ; there was apparanetly but one public duty and that 
was to wait. Waiting had no warmth in it. it was possible, 
during the last month, to warm our tent by giving diligent atten- 
tion to feeding the little stove with wood, but it was a delusion 
and a snare to hope that there would be any contribution of arti- 
ficial heat for even an hour after crawling into one's bunk at 
night. Snow fell at times. 

I recall an incident in my experience in that November 
which illustrates the meaning of the word "shoddy." With 
good money, I purchased a very fair looking pair of military 
boots. The price was well up. Taking them out to camp, I 
congratulated myself on the prospect of well selected, serviceable 
foot gear for the winter and next morning duly donned the boots'. 
I took good care of them and at the end of eight days, precisely, I 
wrapped them carefully in a newspaper and as carefully tied 
about them a string. Then I rode in a jolting, rumbling, grind- 
ing omnibus down the rutty pike to the city and repaired to the 
shoe store where, and to the very partner of whom, I had made 
the purchase. Handing him the bundle, I stood by while he un- 
tied it. He held the boots up and looked at them. Each was 



90 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

broken open, on both sides, from the front of the heel to a point 
across the great toe and the stufif looked like paste or paper, not 
leather. His face was blank for a moment, but he was in that 
business and he had his nerve. "You ought to refund my 
money." "We have no use for these ; you have worn them." 
"I bought them to wear, not to look at." "We can't refund the 
money." "I can't wear your boots." So I left him with the 
goods lying on the floor. An action would have recovered the 
money, but it would have been a losing game. For some years 
after the war, I was accustomed to pass the less pretentious store 
of Mr. W. and his partner to which they moved. I never spoke 
to either of them. They had not prospered with shoddy goods, 
and the dishonest merchant, with his red gills and his redder 
nose, many years ago, turned his toes up to the daisies and is stili 
asleep in Greenlawn. 

On the 21st of November, 1S62. I met Colonel Dan Mc- 
Cook, his father, Major Daniel McCook, and his mother — the 
mother of most of "the fighting McCooks" — in her room, second 
Hoot front, in the old Goodale House, the entrance to w'hich was 
the room in which the Ohio Furniture Company is now doing 
business. South High street. Colonel McCook there wrote an 
order of which the following is a copy : 

Columbus, Ohio, November 21, 1862. 
Captain Holmes as soon as exchanged will proceed to the eastern 
part of the State, and gather up all the men of the Fifty-second Ohio 
Regiment, and take charge of them and conduct them to the regiment 
where it may be found. This shall be his warrant for so doing. 

Daniel McCook, 
Colonel Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Anticipating the announcement of exchange, I forwarded 
the order to department headquarters for approval. It was re- 
turned indorsed as follows : 

"Headquarters Department of the Ohio, 

Cincinnati, Ohio, December 13, 1862. 
Approved: Captain Holmes not to be absent on such duty over one 
week. 

By order of Major General Wright. 

C. W. Foster, 
Assistant Adjutant General." 



Camps and Battle-fields Revlsited. 'Jl 

Early in November the postmaster of Columbus drove out 
to our camp and called on me as the commanding officer of Com- 
pany K. It seemed that one of my men, member of an eastern 
regiment, had somehow obtained from the postoffice and opened 
a letter containing twenty-five dollars, intended for a wholly 
different person, with a wholly different name. The postmaster 
was a very pleasant-spoken, sensible, practical gentleman, with 
whom I enjoyed almost thirty years of subsequent acquaintance, 
extending down to the date of his death. His name was John 
Graham, once known of every resident of Columbus. The sol- 
dier had used the money. I interviewed him. He was clearly 
inexcusable and in a tight place. I found subsequently that he 
was of good family, living, I think, in Xew York. The boy had 
an honest face. It was probably his first offense. I took his 
promise that he would repay and would never offend again, and 
this paper shows what I did to help him out of his trouble : 

"Received, Cohuiabus, November 6, 1862, of Captain J. T. Holmes 

twenty-five dollars, being amount taken from letter by Private L n. 

belonging to Charles H. Smith. John Graham, P. ]\I. 

$25.00." 

December 2, following, L — n remitted me the amount. I 
have suppressed his name here though it appears several times in 
my correspondence. There is reason to believe that the lesson 
was his most valuable one down to that time and that he turned 
over a new leaf. 

Finally there came a day which then seemed the dies dicriim ; 
it broke the prison bonds and set the prisoner free. The evidence 
was contained in the document which follows : 

"Headquarters U. S. Paroled Forces, 
Special Order Columbus, Opiio, December 16, ' 1862. 

No. 178. 
Captain Holmes, Fifty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, is hereby 
ordered to join his regiment; ofiicial information of his exchange has 
been received at these headquarters. 

Captain Holmes will turn over all public property now in his pos- 
session to the ofificer who may be detailed for that purpose by the Com- 
manding Officer of Camp Wallace. 

By command of Brigadier General Cooper. 

Wm. Von Doehn, A. A. General. 

IMajor Pierce. Commanding Camp Wallace."' 



92 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

No time was lost and by midnight of the day I received 
notice of exchange I was in Eastern Ohio ready to comply with' 
the order of Colonel McCook. As far as possible notices were 
sent to the men who had been under parole, and after vibrating 
a little between home and Richmond, as principal points of per- 
sonal interest, on the 2Gth of December, 1862, I left Steubenville 
with my men, who had been exchanged. Closing up unfinished 
business, at Columbus, eight of us, belonging to the Fifty-second, 
left that city at midnight of the 29th for Cincinnati. From Cin- 
cinnati, which we left at noon of the 30th, to Louisville where we 
awoke on the morning of December 31, we traveled by the 
steamer Major Anderson. 

John Morgan had cut the L. & N. R. R. on Christmas and 
as supplies must go forward to the army at the front a fleet of a 
dozen steamers was loaded at the Louisville wharf and movec? 
through the canal around the falls and started for the mouth of 
the Cumberland on Friday afternoon, January 2, 18G3. 

The canal is about seven miles long. The boats steamed 
very slowly through it ; the wheels were barely kept in motion. 
On the left bank, near its mouth, is a little town — Portland — in 
which "Jim Porter," the famous "Kentucky giant," lived long 
ago. My father made a river trip from Wheeling to New Or- 
leans in the year 1828, and stopped to see Porter on the way 
down. The giant stood seven feet six inches in his stocking feet. 
While the boats were being loaded on New Year's night an 
alarm sent them all flying over to the Jeffersonville side of the 
river. Morgan was reported to be within three miles of Louis- 
ville. It was a hoax, a New Year's joke, of the enemy. Sunday 
morning, January 4, we were at Evansville, Indiana, having 
rounded to at that point about 8 o'clock the evening before. 

I had command of the steamer J. H. Baldwin, with fifty-two 
soldiers beside the captain and his crew. During my stay in 
Louisville I stopped at the Gait House, on the main stairway 
of which building General JefT C. Davis, afterwards one of my 
firmest friends, had killed General Nelson, on the 29th dav of 
September, 1862. The shooting grew out of some opprobrious 
language applied by Nelson to Davis in connection with a re- 
quest by the latter for better arms for his brigade. Nelson was 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 93 

much inclined to be brusque and overbearing and Davis was a 
nervous, high spirited man. He was never prosecuted for the 
kihing and advanced in favor and in the importance of his com- 
mands until the close of the war. 

Rumors of a great battle having been fought near Alurfrees- 
boro, with statements of varying results, had been coming to us 
for some hours before we landed at Evansville, and there it was 
said our arms had been finally victorious. 

Hon. Maxwell P. Gaddis, of Cincinnati, sometimes called 
Rev. and again Captain, was on board as a passenger. He had 
lectured in Richmond, Ohio, twice before the war broke out, 
while I was in that college, and I had met him in Columbus. 
Pushing to the front his title as Rev., he preached to us in the 
cabin of the steamer as we moved down the Ohio on the evening 
of January 4th. The seven Fifty-second boys on board hap- 
pened, nearly all, to be good musicians and led the singing in the 
services. He was a man of active mind, with a cheery, social dis- 
position ; loyal, ambitious, but not quite steady in purpose and 
judgment ; in fact, inclined to be a little erratic and changeable. 
He died some years after the war. He had a slight lameness 
which resembled that which, I imagine, from descriptions, af- 
flicted Byron. 

On the 5th of January we reached Smithland, at the mouth" 
of the Cumberland, and w'e were, owing to the low stage of water, 
three days plowing and pounding up to Clarksville, where the 
Seventy-first had met its disaster. On the 6th we passed the 
point where Lieutenant Hamilton had been drowned the pre- 
ceding August. 

The first seventy-five miles up stream were devoid of inter- 
est or attractions. The banks and the lands on each side are low 
and monotonous and the plantations and improvements were 
woe-begone and "no way enticing." The remaining distance up 
to Nashville presented a better appearance. Fort Donelson, 
situated on a high bluff, on the right, as you ascend the river, was 
a most unpicturesque place to fight around, unless the action of 
the gunboats be regarded. That may have possessed something 
of the picturesque, but when we passed up the river no romantic 
patriot would have selected either the inside or the outside of that 



94 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

famous fortification as a desirable place at which to shuffle otf the- 
mortal coil, either in conflict with a flying minie or "e'en at the 
cannon's mouth." It had the appearance of a desolation. It 
had been invested by General Grant February 13, and surren- 
dered by General Buckner February 16, 1862. The distance 
from there to Nashville is sixty-three miles southeast. 

During the years 1857-8, while at college I had, for some 
reason, become greatly impressed with the idea of settling for life 
in Nashville; perhaps it was suggested by the often expressed 
purpose of one of my college mates, W. C. Ralston, afterward 
carried into execution, to locate in Mississippi ; at any rate, in the 
course of my reading touching the city and the State of Ten-- 
nessee, I remember a glowing description of the beauties of the 
Cumberland river. There are some attractive scenes along the 
river, but the account I had read was overdrawn and, upon actual 
view, I was disappointed. True, the trip of one hundred and 
ninety-two miles, from Smithland to Nashville, was not made 
under the circumstances contemplated when I was reading the 
"glowing account"; still, the river must have disappointed me if 
I had made the trip in 1857. 

We steamed up to the little wharf at Clarksville about night- 
fall of the 8th — the day w^e passed Donelson — and our steamer 
was delayed long enough to permit a few of us to walk through 
portions of the streets. There was nothing of particular interest 
to be observed in the dimly-lighted, sleepy and, one might say, 
sullen southern town, and we soon took to the steamer again. It 
was not the Clarksville of to-day, with its 8,000 people and va- 
rious prosperous institutions ; it had 3,000 then and many of them 
were "not at home." There was a growing interest, however, 
in the sixty-five miles of river still to be traversed by the fleet. 
Our convoy of two gunboats might be some protection, but fif- 
teen to eighteen loaded steamboats in a narrow, shallow stream 
like the Cumberland were l)ound to "string out" a good deal and 
this made perilous sudden dashes of small bodies of the enemy, ii 
they could properly time the dash. We were moving by w-ater 
and had no choice of courses or distances and if the rebels can:e 
they might easily find us. At 9 o'clock on Friday, the 9th, we 
struck the foot of Harpeth Shoals, thirty-five miles above Clarks- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 95 

ville. The labor of working the steamers up over the half mile 
or more of swift shallow water was in a manner herculean. It 
was puff and plow and stick and back and land and unload and 
try it again for hours. I shall never forget the ting-a-ling of that 
little bell — repeated a thousand times — away below at the engine, 
as it told the engineer his varying duties in the effort to "stem 
the flood." At last, however, with almost two-thirds of our 
freight on shore, we "made the riffle," and at 3 p. m. of Saturday, 
January 10, 1863, drew up alongside the wharf at Nashville, and 
bidding good-by to Captain and crew of the J. H. Baldwin, re- 
joined the ranks of the Fifty-second. 

The apprehensions entertained from Clarksville up had been 
fairly well fovmded, though we fortunately were protected by the 
care and watchfulness of the authorities at and about Nashville. 
The enemy had notice of our coming and from their position in 
the vicinity of Franklin had sent out a column of troops strong 
enough to capture and burn our fleet while laboring up over the 
shoals. It was timed and directed to strike us at that point, but 
General Rosecrans. advised of what was going on. directed a 
column from Nashville which was timed to intercept or strike the 
flank of the rebel force and we were unmolested. I tell the story 
as it was then told to me. 

It was also reported that four days after our arrival a sec- 
ond fleet of fifteen steamers was attacked at Harpeth Shoals ; 
that the gunboat in advance pushed up stream and the one in 
rear dropped back, and that one of the steamers was burned by 
the enemy and several lives were lost in the fight, including the 
Colonel commanding the fleet. 



96 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Nashville, May 18, 1897. 

About 9 :30 a. m. we boarded the south Spruce street car and 
rode out the Granny White pike to a point opposite the old site 
of Fort Negley and then walked across to the Franklin pike and 
up the shelving, rocky hill, crossing the boulevard, to the ruins 
of the fort. It was long ago dismantled and abandoned. Across 
the hill on which it stood, in unmistakable language, the finger 
of time has written of the material thing the one word Ichabod; 
its history remains. 

We went to the summit and walked around what were once 
the tops of its walls now broken down, no stones of all the ma- 
sonry being visible beyond a glimpse here and there under foot. 
The whole thing is a sort of irregular heap of earth. The 
grounds, including the long mounds, which were once walls, are 
covered with rocks and small stones, the debris merely of the de- 
molished fortress and the stony hill on which it stood. 

Fort Morton, a large earthwork which stood on the hill 
across the Franklin pike from Negley and just above our camp — 
I mean in front of it — has wholly disappeared. The reservoir of 
the city water works is located on the hill next east of the Fort 
Morton hill, still south of the Franklin pike. A street has been 
cut from the old city limits in the side of the Negley hill about half 
way between the Franklin pike and the center of the fort which 
runs into the pike a little way beyond the reservoir hill. This is 
what our driver yesterday called the boulevard, out which we 
drove before we crossed to the Granny White pike. 

We spent an hour among the Negley ruins. An old uncle, 
who had been a slave, was sitting on one of the eastern walls of 
the fort. He was looking for work, he said, but had, these last 
few days, found very little to do. His wife died last July. A 
geological student, the only other person about the hill, was 
making diligent search for specimens among the scattered rocks 
and stones. I spoke with him about his work and he advised me 
that the specimens which he was finding were quite rare even in 
this State and for some reason confined largely to the Negley hill. 
Going back through the can^p on the line of our regimental dress 
parade ground we took the south Spruce street line to the hotel 
again. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 97 

Before going out on this excursion. Professor Clark had sent 
us a note of inquiry and I had answered it advising him that we 
should pick him up at his home about 3 p. m. for a ride to the 
Hermitage. Mrs. Clark's health, much to our regret, is too deli- 
cate to permit her to ride so far — twenty-four miles out and 
back — in one day. I purchased tickets for Chattanooga and 
made arrangements generally for taking the train south at 9 a. m. 
to-morrow. 

At 3 p. m. we were on our way, with a good team, carriage 
and driver, having taken in Professor Clark and greeted his wife, 
to Jackson's old home. It lies, as intimated, twelve miles from 
the city and is on the north side of the Lebanon pike, out which 1 
was accustomed to ride nights, through June, July, and Au- 
gust, 1863, to commence my riding of the lines about Nashville, 
starting with the Lebanon pike and crossing Chicken, Murfrees- 
boro, Franklin, Granny White and other pikes, as I made my 
way, inspecting picket posts, as far as the present grounds of the 
Centennial Exposition. The Lebanon pike runs up on the 
southeast side of the Cumberland river, but not very near it; it 
crosses Mill creek at about four miles and Stone river at eight, 
passing through a fine grazing and farming country, which re- 
minds one of some portions of Ohio. The tokens of comfort and 
prosperity — not great thrift, in these times, but fair living for 
all — w^ere manifest on the right hand and on the left. 

A mile before we reached the Hermitage, we turned squarely 
to the left and by a narrow road traveled perhaps a quarter of a 
mile, passing, on our left, standirg well back from the road, a 
Confederate Soldiers' Heme, established by the State on what 
was once a part of the Jackson plantation. He owned some two 
thousand acres in a body which is now reduced by sales to about 
six hundred acres. The Confederate Home is a very substan- 
tial and commodious structure, with attractive surroundings. 
There are perhaps two hundred inmates at this time. We met 
some of the veterans along the roadsides and as we returned two 
of them were down fishing-, with hooks and lines, from the bridge 
over Stone river. After passing the Home, we turned to the 
right and after driving from a quarter to a half mile entered the 
front gate on our left and approached the mansion with its pil- 



f»S FiFTV-SECOND O. V. I. 

lared or columned portico through a wide avenue of various 
kinds of trees, three rows on each side of the roachvay, which 
makes a wide circle immediately in front of the great house. It 
is said Jackson planted many of them with his own hands. The 
distance from the gate to the house must be at least thirty rods, 
with a slight ascent from the gate for the iirst twenty. The trees 
extend the entire distance. The house faces the south, the Leb- 
anon pike. 

We landed. On the veranda was a sort of string band — four 
musicians — there to make music for a dancing party in the dining 
room this evening. The fee for admission to the mansion is ten 
cents. The Hermitage Association, composed largely of Ten- 
nessee ladies, is right in making such a charge to meet expenses. 
As we entered the wide hall we were met by a young woman at- 
tendant who took the fee and answered Professor Clark's inquiry 
for "old Alfred" by saying he was in the garden. The Professor 
accordingly led us out the side hall door on our right, and into 
the garden, in the southeast corner of which is the Jackson tomb 
separated by a walk from the graves of perhaps a dozen relatives, 
including the adopted children. These latter occupy the corner 
and the President's tomb stands out farthest from the fence. Ap- 
parently a vault was built which rises fifteen or eighteen inches 
above the ground. It is of stone and circular, about ten feet in 
diameter. It is covered by stone. I cannot say whether there 
are two vaults or not ; there are two slabs lying on top of the vault 
which seem each to cover an opening. 

Rachel Jackson, the General's wife, died in 1828, and her 
body occupies the north side of the vault. The General's body 
lies under the south slab. He died in 1845. Over this struc- 
ture, at the height of twelve to fifteen feet above the slabs is a 
graceful canopy, supported by columns of appropriate size, all 
painted and kept white and clean. 

The garden has, perhaps, more than an acre of ground en- 
closed by a white fence. It is laid out in plain, well kept walks 
and there are flowers and roses everywhere. It is about seventy 
five to a hundred feet from the side hall door to the garden gate. 
Uncle Alfred was just starting away from the tomb as we entered 
the garden and made our way to that corner. He took the party 



Camps and Battle-fiklds Revisited. 99 

which he was then conducting out to the house and came back to 
us. He answered questions and volunteered information very 
readily. He was Jackson's slave; is now ninety-three years old; 
has always lived "on dc place"; went with his master to Washing- 
ton in 1828 ; came home in ]S30, at the end of two years, to look 
after the General's horses — he had a great many horses of all 
kinds — to train tliem and get them in condition to take to Galla- 
tin, Tennessee, trj market, and has been here ever since. What 
a history this man's life covers! There is no fake about him. 
The old man was plainly Jackson's servant and has survived his 
master more than half a century. T confess that if I ever heard 
of old .Vlfred and his survival of Jackson, T have completelv for- 
gotten it, because the fact of his existence and his very presence 
in the old l:)ody at the Hermitage came as a revelation after I en- 
tered the spacious hall of the Jackson mansion to-day. He is 
well preserved; has the appearance of being about seventv years 
old. His left eye is sightless, but his hearing is almost perfect. 
His voice is clear and the nerves and muscles do not show either 
a shaky or a feeble condition. In height he is about five feet ten 
and a half inches and stands with very little stoop of the shoul- 
ders. He will weigh about a hundred and forty pounds. There 
is a tinge of white blood in his veins, or, rather, it should be said 
he is not entirely black. He may be of pure African blood. His 
grandmother and his mother had been servants in the Jackson 
family, and he pointed out the cabin, fifty rods away to the left 
and rear of the garden, which faces south, though the gate is at 
the side next the house, where they had lived and in which identi- 
cal cabin he was l:)orn. In front of this cabin, a few paces, stands 
the upper story of Jackson's first log house. The first story was 
taken out and removed for some reason. The old man said that 
it was out of the back window of this log house that Jackson 
crawled before daylight "in de mornin' to go and fight de duel 
wid Dickinson; and none of us didn't know whar he wus gone." 
"Dat house stood right in dat same place." 

As to that duel: It was fought with pistols, at eight paces, 
on the bank of Red river in Kentucky, a long day's ride from 
Nashville, on the 30th day of May. 1806. Dickinson was a high 
blooded, sporting, young Xashville lawyer, the crack pistol shot 



](Mi Fifty-second O. V. I. 

of the State, Avitli whom and his father-in-law, Erwin, bad blood 
arose from their having to pay to Jackson an $800.00 forfeit on a 
proposed horse race and, in his cups, Dickinson had cast repeated 
reflections on jNIrs. Jackson and then on the General. Jackson 
challenged him. When they met Dickinson fired first, but slightly 
misled by the large sized frock coat which covered the thin, spare 
person of his tall adversary, only broke a couple of ribs. Making 
no sign, Jackson fired, tearing a great hole in Dickinson's side — 
a mortal wound, from which he soon died, not knowing that his 
ball had touched the General. General Overton, an old Revo- 
lutionary soldier, a Scotchman, who gave his name to the Over- 
ton farm, five miles out of Nashville, where the brunt of General 
Thomas' great battle was fought, December 15-16, 1SG4. was 
Jackson's second, and gave the word to fire, in his excitement 
pronouncing "fcrc." 

Uncle Alfred went over the family graves telling us the con- 
nection between each occupant and the General, or his wife, and 
then we followed him into the house, entering by the side hall 
door. We passed directly into the great hall. There is a flight 
of stairs running up from each hall to the second story. The 
first room on the left of the large hall as you enter from the front 
is part of the double parlors, the other being in rear of this front 
room. Here is the case of relics, including the General's big sil- 
ver headed hickory cane. There are several items, but the num- 
bers are small when one thinks of the comparatively recent death 
of the General and of the personal and private property which he 
must have had as the accumulation of the years from his birth, 
1TG7 — the year before Napoleon was born — until his death, 1845 
— the year that Joseph Story died, seventy-eight years, the life of 
Jackson. On the wall above the relics hang two pictures of the 
battle of New Orleans, one of them purporting to depict the 
death of Pakenham. x\s works of art, they are in no way re- 
markable. One is an engraving and the other seemed to be 
handiwork of some sort with which I am not familiar. They are 
small sized, the larger not over fifteen by twenty inches and the 
smaller but little over half that size. Over the fireplace in this 
room hangs a picture of the General, which Alfred said was paint- 
ed by Healey four days before Jackson's death, the artist having 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 101 

made a visit on business of a dififerent nature, and finding the 
famous man very ill had devoted his time to the painting. To 
the left, as you face them, hangs a fine painting of Mrs. Jackson. 
The room next west, looking out on the front lawn, is the dining 
room, in which the young people were expecting to have their 
dance. The ladies of the Association have put a new floor in it 
and Alfred has put a fine wire screen over the fireplace to pre- 
serve the celebrated hickory mantel, made on the 8th of January, 
in different years — no work on it being done on any other day in 
the year — and presented to Jackson in 1835. This screen was 
necessary to prevent the cheerful idiot in the person of the relic 
hunter from tearing the mantel to pieces and carrying it away. 
The work of the vandal, before Alfred built his cage around the 
hickory, is quite manifest in the stripping" of some of the shorter 
bits of wood from a kind of center piece just above the fireplace. 

There are a few pieces of furniture still in the house, left by 
Jackson at his death, but they are scarce; there are, in addition to 
the battles of New Orleans, already mentioned, and the paintings 
of the General and Mrs. Jackson, a very few other pictures in the 
rooms below, none at all above; in fact, there is nothing in the 
upper rooms, except what belonged to the family of the adopted 
son, Andrew Jackson Donelson, and we did not go upstairs as 
the rooms correspond in size with those below. In the room 
where the General died, first on the right of the main hall, as one 
enters, are book cases with books of miscellaneous character in 
them and an old-fashioned bedstead and bed, but none of them 
were there in Jackson's time. They are put in by the Associa- 
tion simply to give an idea of the appearance of the room at the 
time of the death. In the dining room is an immense stone china 
water pitcher, the only article left, according to Alfred, which was 
in the room when the General died. I should think the pitcher 
would hold at least four gallons. 

The well with its windlass is at the back of the house, and we 
took a drink therefrom along with other thirsty tourists. Old 
Alfred's tongue ran on incessantly. He has told his stories thou- 
sands of times and yet his memory is losing some of its points and 
the old man knows, and himself states, the fact. Now and then, 
he will transpose events, misstate dates, or forget the answer to 



103 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

your question, but, in the main, his mental faculties are in a mar- 
vellous state of preservation, and accurate and reliable. Just be- 
fore we separated, asked how long since the Hermitage was built, 
he said the first house was erected on the ground where the pres- 
ent one stands in 1819 and was burned down in 1834. The pres- 
ent building was put up in 1835. 

As we left the bedroom the old man lingered behind, answer- 
ing some of my questions, and took occasion to say that people 
hardly gave him time to eat or sleep. "Las' Friday, sah, I had 
on'y a cup of colTee in de mawnin', and not a bite to eat tell dark." 
I said to him that if I were at his age, I should have regular meals 
and rest, no matter who waited. He agreed that he ought to 
have them, but added, "If I did dat de newspapers would com- 
plain and say I was neglectin' my duty." He was probably right 
about it, but when a servant of God or man attains the age of 
ninety-three years he has a right to disregard criticisms on his 
neglect of duty by newspapers, or "cheerful idiots." When we 
first came in from the garden, before he showed us anything, he 
carefully called attention to the ten cents admission fee, not 
knowing that we had paid it. He said that as many as two hun- 
dred visitors per day sometimes registered in the book kept in the 
main hall for that purpose. 

From every side of the house you have extended views over 
a billowy, gently rolling country, clothed at this season of the 
year in its most attractive garb. Leaving the yoimg people, 
some of the young men having been students at Montgomery 
Bell Academy under Professor Clark, to await the coming of the 
lighted lamps and "the light, fantastic toe," we took the carriage 
for the ride back to the city. The coming out to the pike was 
like the going in except that it was a sort of continuation of the 
way. Instead of turning to the right and going back over our 
track from the pike, we turned to the left at the front gate and 
completed tlie travel along three sides of the large block of land — 
some portions of it still covered by the original forest — which lies 
between the Homestead and the Lebanon pike before we came 
out into the latter and turned to our right on the way to Nashville. 

In one hour and a half we discharged the team at Professor 
Clark's house and sat down to a delightful supper with his wife 



Camps and Battlk-fiklds Revisited. 103 

and himself, and after an evening of social reminiscence and en- 
joyment we took the street car for the Maxwell House. 

As we were about to retire last night an alarm of fire filled the 
streets about and below the hotel with people and horses and 
buggies and bicycles and fire engines. The paint and oil house 
of Warren Brothers, one square below on Church street, was on 
fire. It is not an easy matter to extinguish a fire which feeds on 
as inflammable material as oil, so that there was no hope of saving 
the establishment from the start. The fire department did heroic 
work, I should rather say it was magnificent, in keeping the 
flames confined to the two large buildings immediately involved. 
There was no wind, but so fierce was the power of the fire that it 
sent showers of sparks and burning pieces of wood over the Max- 
well and far beyond, very greatly endangering the business center 
of the city. People all through the hotel prepared for flight in 
case it should become necessary. Our trunk and grips were 
hastily packed and our house set in order for leaving if the fire 
should "catch on." 

At Lexington the fire department labored with defective 
hose and probably had some other temporary troubles with its 
machinery; here nothing seemed to give way and the department, 
with high skill, accomplished the best possible results, preventing 
a most disastrous conflagration. While excitement was at its 
highest a voung gentleman, an entire stranger to me, stopped in 
front of the hotel and began talking about what a member of the 
firm had recently said to him as to business conditions. It was a 
delicate subject and a queer thing for him to state to an entire 
stranger some of the facts which he alleged. In answer to my 
question, he said the members of the firm were men of high stand- 
ing in every way. Upon our return from Negley this morning, 
we walked by the ruins still smouldering and burning with hose 
playing a stream of water on them. 

When we started on the drive about the city, in search of the 
old camps yesterday afternoon, the first point to which I directed 
the driver was the landing, a little way below the Warren Broth- 
ers' establishment, because it was at this point that we left the boat 
in which we had made the trip from Louisville between December 
31, 1862, and January 10, 18(53. I found that the landing now in 



104 FiFTV-SECOND O. V. I. 

use is about one block further up the river than the one of war 
times. This is easily determined because the old L. & N. R. R. 
bridge is just where it then was, and so our ride had the boat land- 
ing for its initial point. It seemed to me when I entered the 
Maxwell House on Sunday morning that I had been in it during 
the war and the impression has gradually strengthened until to- 
day I had it confirmed. When I left the boat, January 10, 1863, 
I marched my fifty-two men, belonging to different regiments, up 
street to the ZoUicofTer building, then in command of — no matter 
— and delivered the men to the Commissary of musters in that 
building. It turns out that the Zollicofifer building was the un- 
finished Maxwell House, taken possession of by the government 
for military purposes, and no one now seems to know, at least, 
my inquiry failed to elicit any explanation as to how it happened 
to be called the Zollicoffer, as it was built and being completed 
as the Maxwell and has been so known ever since the war. 

I think I omitted to make a note, in my observations with 
reference to Bryant Spring, of the fool scribbling of names by 
half-witted tourists and visitors all over the smooth portions of 
the mason work of the memorial walls. The lover might carve 
a heart or two hearts in outline and cut therein the initials or 
names of his best girl and himself on some beech tree by the 
school house, or in other woods, near his country home and only 
be laughed at for "carrying his heart on his sleeve" so that the 
daws or jays might peck at it, but patience, good nature and in- 
dulgence draw the line when it comes to defacing a work of art 
or utility by names and dates and addresses which, instead of 
fame, give a sort of infamy, at least to the extent of obtaining the 
credit of being sap-heads. They will go on doing it, however, 
imtil the final trump. 



Camps and Battle-fiklus Rkn'isited. lOo 

C"iiatia.\()0(;a, 'J>,xxi<:ssI':i:. Ma\- 1'.), 18!)7. 

We came out of Nashville by the !> o'clock train this morn- 
ing. The railroad runs through the country along the Murfrees- 
boro pike for the first thirty miles. The experience I had June 
25 to June 28, 18(53, along that celebrated thoroughfare is still 
vividly recalled. A very small detachment of rebel cavalry could 
have captured and destroyed most of my train very easily, at al- 
most any point on the road. Two hundred loaded wagons, 
drawn by twelve hundred mules, stretched out five miles in spite 
of all I could do, and what with rain and mud and raw drivers and 
wet and scattered soldiers, I simply trusted to the chances. They 
favored me. In the "endless chain" of mule teams, I was obliged, 
by the coming on of darkness at Lavergne, after I had gotten, 
say, one hundred teams over the creek, to turn the others into 
camp on the right of the pike near the bridge to cross the next 
morning. It was midnight before the rear of the train came up. 
At daylight on the morning of June 26, the creek was u]) within a 
few inches of the bridge and it was unsafe to attempt crossing it. 
After a little time, the bridge went down stream and there I was 
with a divided train, and a torrent of waters making its union im- 
possible until late in the afternoon. By the night of the 27th all 
were over, the creek having fallen sufficiently to permit the wad- 
ing of the same. Aly notes show the substance of my doings be- 
yond and down to the return to Nashville on the 2Sth of the 
month. I slept under the tail end of one of the wagons from mid- 
night until daylight on the morning of that day, the train being 
parked in the night on the northwest bank of Stone river, in rain 
and mud unspeakable. Very early in the morning, I reported to 
General Van Cleve of Iowa, whose headquarters were not far 
from the river on the jMurfreesboro side north of the pike. He 
was up, but only partially dressed, when he received me. He was 
a spare, thin man with hair mostly turned gray, but kind and 
genial and considerate. Setting out a little whiskey immediately 
after I made known my work and mission, he said, "I never drink 
liquor except on two occasions, either before or after a meal ! You 
look as though you needed a little stimulant after your campaign 
thrciuHi the mud." T was niuddv all over and greatlv fa'igued, 



10(i ]mftv-si-X()XI) O. V. I. 

but cannot now remember whether I touched his liquor or not. 
I know I ate a splendid breakfast with him at his table, and after 
settling the lousiness part of the delivery of my train with his quar- 
termaster, myself and my orderly betook ourselves to the pike for 
the ride to Nashville, where we arrived that evening. 

As we came along to-day I pointed out the battlefield, or so 
much of it as can be seen from the cars, to Mrs. H. and explained 
movements, disasters and the retrieval, by the personal heroism 
and magnetism of Rosecrans, when the day was almost lost. All 
of the final retreat. of our men and of their forward movement to 
the recovery of lost groimd occiu'red in sight of and upon and 
over the pike and the railroad track which are near together as 
you approach the crossing of the river at Murfreesboro; and the 
river runs a sort of third parallel, on the left, not far away. 

When the train was moving out from the Miu-freesboro sta- 
tion, a lady who was evidently much interested, said, "Now, I 
want to see the battlefield." She had passed through it without 
being aware of the fact, and when she wished to do so was unable 
to see any part of it. 

From Murfreesboro to Stevenson, I was on ground over 
which I had never passed, our line of march having been, as 
stated, directly south from Nashville to Decatiu", or rather to 
Athens, and thence to Stevenson, but at this latter station I took 
up the retracing of familiar ground and scenes so far as land- 
scapes were concerned. 

At 2 :3.") p. m. we stepped into the Read House, Chattanooga, 
and were assigned room !)0 — fair cjuarters. Taking a late dinner, 
we went to the top of Lookout by Incline number one. There is 
an Incline number two and the rivalry has been sharp. To-mor- 
row munber two swallows number one by consolidation. A hotel 
has been built innnediately against the palisades in front of the 
mountain from which there is a very good view of the whole field 
of operations, in the Wauhatchie Valley, on Lookout ^Mountain, 
Mission Ridge and about Chattanooga. The valleys on each 
side of the mountain are easily seen by walking from one end of 
the veranda to the other. 

We took in and for a while studied the general view. It was 
all familiar, or nearly all, to one of us, and all new and strange 



Ca:\[ps axd Battle-fi1':ij)S Ri-:vi.sitkt>. lOT 

to the other. Presently we cUmbed the ladders, by which one 
scales the palisades, and stood where the confederate batteries 
were planted, which played on Cameron hill. Moccasin point and 
into the Wauhatchie valley. 1 found the gap anionic; the Wau- 
hatchie hills in which we lay during those eight or ten miserable 
days in November, 1863, when we were obliged to lie still under 
the pounding of the rebel guns and gunners two and a half miles 
away. There has always been one compensation to us for these 
ugly days, in the recollection that they familiarized us with the 
ground over which Hooker was to fight "the battle above the 
clouds" on the 24th of that month as a preliminary to the storm- 
ing of jMission Ridge on the day following, my birthday. From 
our position, on the south side of the Tennessee at Cakhvell's ford, 
for we were then on our way to the north end of Mission Ridge, 
we distinctly saw the flash of Hooker's guns as his men rounded 
the nose of the mountain about "the white house" — the Cravens* 
farm below the palisades. It was a foggy day and opportunely 
for the poetry of Hooker's battle, a fog settled about Lookout 
for the time being and made "the clouds" above which and in 
which the fight occurred. Although it was daylight while the 
action went on, it was damp and drizzly and soggy along the 
river and looking at the mountain a piece of artillery, or even the 
rifles of the men, when fired, would flash as a light in a dark place. 
Mrs. H. ordered a photograph of the Wauhatchie gap to be 
taken and sent home. I purchased a series of one hundred and 
twenty-five views of the battlefields about Chattanooga. Let me 
see; it has been said and written so often as almost to produce 
confusion of mind, but, from the point of Lookout, on a clear day 
— remember, it must be a clear day — one with good eyes and a 
telescope can see into, how many States? Well. Tennessee, 
Georgia, Alabama. That is easy without the telescope, for down 
at Shell Mound, a short march along the river toward Bridge- 
port, it is possible to stand with the left foot in Alabama, the right 
one in Georgia and at the same time touch the State of Tennessee 
with the hand. Then there are X'irginia and North Carolina and, 
it is said, on very bright days. Kentucky, South Carolina and 
Mississippi. These facts point to Chattanooga as the strategical 
heart and center of rebellion, as Richmond and A'irginia were its 



108 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

head and front ; and they gild and glorify the genius and skill 
of Rosecrans in the plan of campaign which produced the fall of 
this American Gibraltar. 

We climbed down just in time to take the last car of the day 
for the descent. At the foot of the mountain, where we changed 
cars. for the city, Mrs. H. dropped her purse and we were a good 
quarter of a mile on the way w^hen she missed it. Getting ofif 
the car and walking back, without much hope of recovering the 
lucre, our guide, and liveryman for to-morrow, who had run 
back ahead of us, met an honest boy bringing the purse and con- 
tents along after the car. The boy was suitably rewarded. 
Taking the next car we "camped" in our hotel at dark, with so 
much of our sightseeing here duly finished. 

Let me now, briefly as I may, bring forward the story which 
ended with the reunion at Nashville, January 10, 1863. Some 
of its points have already been given, but some of those that re- 
main ought, perhaps, to be stated. 

We found the state and condition of my company about as 
follows : 

Fourteen were dead ; ten had been discharged the service ; 
thirty-five were in camp on duty ; the remainder were in hospi- 
tals, which stretched their various locations from Nashville to 
Louisville ; and this was the substantial condition of each of the 
other nine companies of the regiment. It had shrunk from a 
magnificent thousand to three hundred and fifty men in line. 
They were quartered in the old-fashioned, browned, weather- 
beaten, smoked and greasy Sibley tents. The camp looked 
much like some of the Indian villages which I saw on the plains 
and in the Rockies in the summer of 1867, excepting that there 
was a regularity about the rows of tents and company and regi- 
mental streets, which the Indians, for the most part, wliolly dis- 
regarded. The men fit for duty were strong and healthy and in 
good spirits. 

This reminds me that the steward of our boat presented me, 
as we were leaving it, two choice bottles of spirits, which went 
from the landing .to the camp with the first installment of lug- 
gage. Nothing was unpacked and I returned immediately to 
the city to make report and, so to speak, bring up the rear of our 



Ca:mi"S and Battle-fields Revisited. 109 

return. While I was gone, the satchel containing- the glorious 
bottles was opened and spirits and bottles had taken their ever- 
lasting flight before I re-entered the camp. The Chaplain and 
Lieutenant Colonel were asleep upon my return although night 
had not yet fallen. They had called at my headquarters and in 
my absence had extended their welcome to my grip sack, and 
then lain down to think over it ! Those were war times. Inter 
anna leges sHent. 

The battle of Stone River, which had been fought Decem- 
ber 30- January 1, preceding, was still the subject of earnest daily 
discussion and conversation. Nashville was full of the debris 
and the evidences of that great conflict ; it was, in fact, an im- 
mense hospital, with a charnel house attachment in the under- 
taking establishments whence the dead had been and were being 
boxed and shipped, in great numbers, to their northern relatives 
and friends. The battle itself and its results belong to general 
history. 

In my letter of January 20, written home, 1 find a descrip- 
tion of one of the foraging excursions common in those days. 

"Last night at 8 o'clock we received orders to have one day's ra- 
tions and be ready to march by 3 o'clock this morning. 

We were ready. A. R. is well, save a cold he has caught, and was 
acting orderly for the captain commanding the expedition to-day. This 
put him on horseback. 

There were two regiments and two pieces of artillery, — the lOLh 
Michigan, 52d Ohio and the artillery from Barnett's battery. We 
marched into town about six o'clock this morning without any very defi- 
nite idea as to where we were going save that it was a foraging expedition. 

Going up Broadway we finally came to the Hillsborough Pike lead- 
ing S. S. W. As soon as we filed left, and got out of town we came 
upon the wagon train and we piled in, eight men in a wagon. There 
were several wagons I thought and by 11 o'clock we reached our desti- 
nation about one-half mile to the left of the pike. Here the wagons 
were sent into the planter's fields and loaded with fodder, corn, and oats 
in the sheaf. In two hours they were all filled, some of them from the 
crib and his barnyard, where two forage trains within a year had been 
shelled from the surrounding hills and destroyed by the rebels. 

The wagons were all loaded and that man, be he rebel or Union 
man, and the strong probability is if he was not a rebel this morning he 
is one to-night, was minus one hundred and one six-mule-team-wagon 
loads of forage and two negroes, for they ran off and came with the 
train. 



110 FiFTV-SECONI) O. V. I. 

People north lose their friends, their sons and brothers, their hus- 
bands and kinsman, in hospital, or in battle, but they know nothing of 
the ravages and horrors of war. The desolation that broods over these 
hills and vales, as beautiful as God ever formed for man, is truly fright- 
ful. 

I remember well when a little younger than now of reading about 
that beautiful city with its gorgeous capitol away up the Cumberland 
river. I was fascinated with the descriptions of Nashville beyond those 
of any other city. It must have been beautiful with its palace-like resi- 
dences, green trees, shaded walks, its bridges, railroads and pikes, with 
its steeples, its spires and last, though not least, its proud state house. 

What is it now? One immense hosfital. its business closed, its streets 
filthy, its prisons crowded and no shadow of a smile upon it." 

On the 2Gth January, followed the description of picket duty 
and a second such expedition : 

"Now from Nashville go two or three miles up the river and you 
will find on this side a reserve of twenty-live or thirty men round a fire 
under a shed or old roof, and passing these some one hundred or two 
hundred yards you come upon a sentinel. Thirty, forty or perhaps fifty 
yards to the right of that guard will be found another, farther still to the 
right another, and so on for a mile, where you find another reserve and 
in front of it a line of outposts, a simple continuation of the first one. 

This line of pickets runs around the city from river above to river 
below, distant from the city from three to five miles. The line is some 
fifteen miles in length, held by three brigades. Ours, the first, holds the 
centre. As brigade officer of the day, I had to ride a line of pickets five 
miles in length and that twice through the day and once through the 
night. Going out and back each time. I made about forty or forty-five 
miles in the twenty-four hours. 

For a man who has been on horseback but little recently this was a 
pretty tiresome operation. This made seventy-two hours duty with- 
out cessation. I stole enough sleep here and there during the time to 
feel better when I quit than when I began. A. R. looks as well as I have 
seen him for several months and my own health is still good. We had 
quite a snow and freeze-up about a week or ten days ago. It came in 
good time to help us grow acclimated by degrees, coming as we did 
from the north. The snow, about five inches deep, was a marvel for this 
latitude. It has disappeared and we are enjoying the rainy season, or a 
Nashville winter. To-morrow morning we start again on a foraging 
expedition and some of the boys say we are going out to obtain paroles. 
We go out on the same pike. 

"January 20. I quit writing on Monday night late and went to bed 
intending to sleep without any concern as to awaking at four o'clock, 
the time fixed for the start. After being in bed an hour, an order came 



Camps and Battle-fields REvisrrED. Ill 

from brigade headquarters putting me in command of the brigade train 
and to report with it at the junction of Franklin pike and Broad street 
at five o'clock in the morning. The order stated that I would receive 
instructions from Charles Deane, brigade quartermaster. This put my 
ideas of unconcerned sleep to flight. At three o'clock I was in the sad- 
dle. By five the brigade of wagons was formed, and in all we had ninety 
wagons. Going out on the same pike we traveled before, we passed four 
miles beyond the old stand and turned to the right about one-half mile. 

The ninety wagons were filled and started back. We had two pieces 
of artillery, the 52d Ohio and the GOth Illinois for guards. 

By seven o'clock at night we had the train all back well loaded with 
corn, oats and fodder. A. R. was on horseback again and I was in the 
saddle fifteen hours. 

Since then I have slept like a trooper until I feel ready for duty 
which will not come again before day after to-morrow." 

These incidents give some idea of otir ontdoor army life and 
labors through the remainder of that winter. It was probably 
in February that General Morgan, commanding the division, 
and General Robt. S. Granger, commanding the post, each ap- 
pointed a court of inquiry to investigate and make report touch- 
ing absences withotit leave of two or three commissioned offi- 
cers. These separate appointments, in some way, happened to 
embrace the same officers ; Capt. John A. P. Glore, 5th Ken- 
tucky Cavalry; Capt. Wm. W. Fellows, 125th Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, and myself. I remember that the service was tedious 
and a little irksome. If I had then been as fainiliar with legal 
proceedings and as deeply interested in the science and practice 
of the law as in these later days, it wotild, dottbtless, have been 
different. 

Capt. Glore was a resident of Covington, Ky., and I met 
him in Columbus, at the Neil, on two occasions several years 
after the war closed. Capt. Fellows was killed in the charge at 
Kenesaw. 

The winter wore away, not such a winter as we see in the 
north. In place of snows and frozen ground were rains and 
mud, as a rule. There was the one considerable snow fall of 
about five inches, but it did not stay with us ; the comparatively 
warm earth and the warm sim soon turned it into slush and then 
into water. 



112 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

The "ill health" referred to in my journal was nothing more 
than the physical discomfort incident, for a few weeks, to be- 
coming accustomed to the climate and the new mode of life. The 
change from Central Ohio to Central Tennessee was great 
enough, in my case, to render a new adjustment of the physical 
man to its climatic environment necessary and this brought its 
days and nights of physical worry, which in no serious respect 
interfered with active duty in and about the garrison or with 
days of bounding health and strength. 

The outing at Franklin from the 8th to the 15th of March 
and the camp there August 21-23, following, made us very fa- 
miliar with what subsequently became the battle ground, as our 
camp was below the old gin house and not far from the position 
afterward occupied by Casement's brigade in that engagement. 

The Brentwood outing from April 7, to June 5, gave us an 
ideal camp ground and experience. It was like tenting on a 
well-kept lawn, shaded by a few great trees, beside a beautiful, 
clear little river, in the heart of a most attractive landscape, with 
slightly rolling country, fine roads, and splendid plantations. 
That memory will stay with me until the last, I think. My ex- 
periences there were calculated to impress me. Lieut. Col. 
Clancy was away sick ; he had been promoted over Major Clark 
in February preceding. The senior captain commanding the 
regiment had secured a major's commission, Major Clark having 
resigned, but McCook had hung up his muster-in, because the 
commission had been obtained without consulting him and by 
an officer of whom he was not fond. This was at the close of 
April. One day, McCook found the Captain and the Adjutant 
derelict in some duty and both were placed under arrest. I was 
ordered to take command of the regiment. Captains Morrow 
and Donaldson were, at the time, my seniors in rank, but the 
Colonel was angry and inexorable. I find the climax recorded 
in a letter written May 5, 1863 : 

"May 1st, about 4. p. ni.. Colonel McCook called to me and when I 
responded said: 'I want your name in full.' I gave it to him. Then 
he said: 'By G , I'll have you Major of this regiment before to-mor- 
row night. I'll show Captain Morrow that he can't ride over me. When 
I want a Major I'll make my own selection and have the thing my own 
way.' " 



Camps and Battle-fields REVisriED. 113 

He telegraphed Gov. Tod before sundown and I was mus- 
tered to that rank at Nashvihe on the 6th of that month. For 
the purposes of muster I rode horseback to and from the city, 
having a clear conviction that a stray squad of the enemy's cav- 
alry might easily take in the lonely traveler at many points along 
the lonely pike. Morrow^ and Donaldson resigned, the latter on 
account of his age and the condition of his health, not because of 
my promotion, for, in this latter respect, he was both friendly and 
satisfied. 

It was one of the Colonel's fanciful ideas, which he more 
than once expressed, that the Fifty-second could found a pros- 
perous colony and village at that point on the banks of Little 
Harpeth. Then he would proceed, from his intimate knowledge 
of the ofBcers and men, to designate the variety of trades, occu- 
pations and professions represented by them. The list was a 
long one. He would wind up by the suggestion that we could 
return there after the war and give to his idea "a local habitation 
and a name." 

Strange as it may seem in the light of events, as early as 
May, 1863, and while we were still in this camp, he talked re- 
peatedly, as he did afterward, about presenting his "Indian ma- 
jor," as he styled me, to the President in Washington at the 
close of the rebellion. He had no definite line, as I recall it, on 
which Washington was to be reached, but his logic was that we 
should go through the confederacy and at last come out at the 
National Capital. Along the fighting line, from that station, 
not in distance, but in bloodshed, he traveled more than half way 
to Washington before he fell. 

While we lay in this camp drilling, guarding, and enjoying 
life — doing outpost duty for the protection of Nashville — it was 
ascertained that some confederate officers — two or more — w^ere 
visiting, or lodging, near our lines and a plan was laid along in 
May to muster fifteen or twenty officers of the brigade on horse- 
back, armed, some midnight and go out and capture them. The 
night came and the officers gathered in a lane leading to the pike 
near the Fifty-second camp, but the scheme \vas abandoned and 
we returned to our quarters. No very definite reason for the 
abandonment was given. The supposition was that, upon re- 



114 FiFTV-SECOXD O. A'. I. 

flection, it was not regarded as wise, in a military point of view, 
to risk tlie loss of such a squad of officers, as the execution of thq 
plan at last seemed more hazardous than when first suggested. 
With the beginning of June came the return to the city and then 
followed events already mentioned, either in my journal, or in 
previous chapters, or both, down to the 20th of August. 

One of my father's boyhood friends was Rezin Thompson, 
who, long before the war, had, perhaps, on account of the con- 
dition of his health, drifted to Tennessee. His brother Samuel 
was a very amiable, gentlemanly and intelligent citizen, who 
spent his whole life in the home neighborhood in Eastern Ohio, 
engaged, for the most part, in scientific studies, occasionally 
teaching in the public schools and having private classes. 
Through him, there was, for many years, the general under- 
standing among the neighbors that Dr. Rezin was practicing his 
profession in the vicinity of Nashville. The result was that when 
we became a part of the garrison of that city my father enjoined 
upon me the duty of looking up Dr. Thompson and paying him 
respect for the "auld acquaintance" sake. A letter from my 
brother A. R. tells most of the story : 

■r, c- ^ ''Nashville, Tune 29th. 

Dear bister: ' •' 

For one week past it has done nothing but rain, rain here. We have 
just had a very heavy showier which will preclude the possibility of doing 
anything out of doors, or rather tents, and I will employ three hours, 
or something less, in writing another letter home as I have only written 
two since I received yours. 

To begin with, you can tell father that we have found Rezin Thomp- 
son at last, alive and kicking, and a man of some notoriety as a physi- 
cian in the city of Nashville and vicinity. He has a practice at the pres- 
ent time, although he looks old enough to retire from business, which 
brings him about four thousand a year. He is not so rugged in appear- 
ance though in action he is ten years younger than his brother Samuel. 
He appears to be one of those born to die in early youth, but the native 
energy of the man cheated death of its prey. Gray hairs are plentiful 
in what was once a dark head of hair, which is more bristly and stands 
on end more than old 'Sammie's.' He is now living about one mile out 
of Edgefield, a little town opposite Nashville; his place of business is iir 
the former. Preceding its evacuation by the 'Rebs,' his ofifice was in 
'Nashville,' where he labored for some three months in their hospitals, 
though not as an army surgeon and without any remuneration whatever 
more than that received from the prompting of a philanthropic heart. 



Cami'S and I5a rii,E-Fii-:i,i)S Riaisited. 115 

He has taken no part in the political broils of the day, but left each party 
to fight its own battles unaided by what little he could do. He has taken 
the oath of allegiance, or as the Secesh here call it, 'Swallowed the dog.' 
Now, if I was going to venture an opinion in the matter I should say 
the dog choked him somewhat as he went down, but our conversation 
was altogether relating to persons. It was more by chance than any 
other way that we found him, or rather he found us. One day 'Dr. Ong' 
was in camp and was talking with Taylor when he asked him if he knew 
such, or had ever heard of such, a man as Dr. R. Thompson in Nash- 
ville. The doctor told him there was a man of that name living in Edge- 
field. Taylor sat down that evening and wrote a letter to him telling 
him he had been hunting a man of his name for six months past and if 
he was the man he would like to see him, and in the letter were several 
questions which Taylor expected him to answer by letter as tests of his 
identity; to this was signed his name and regiment. A few days after 
this Taylor went to 'Murfreesboro' in charge of a wagon train and 
while he was gone instead of a letter the veritable 'Dr. Thompson' him- 
self turned up at our camp in search of 'Major Holmes.' The boys 
brought him to me and I was not long in discovering his name. 

I wrote a letter to Samuel Thompson last night telling him <if the 
discovery." 

After goin.y' back to Nashville from the camp at Murfrees- 
boro, I returned the doctor's call by riding to his oiifice in Edge- 
field, but found that he was absent some miles in the country 
and so it came about that I never met him. Edgefield was then, 
as now, stretched out along the pike running north and the doc- 
tor's office was more than a mile from the river. I remember it 
had the appearance of the proverbial doctor's offtce and was on 
the west side of the street or pike. Of his subsequent career or 
death I recall no knowledge whatever.* 

We left Nashville by cars on the '^('th of June, going to 
Murfreesboro, where we remained until the 20th of July, so that 
I rode horseback from Murfreesboro on the 28th, after delivery 
of the train of two hundred wagons, and returned to the place 
the next day to camj) in its northwest suburb almost a month. 
I can think of only one word, and that in the Scripture sense, 
which will give my idea of its condition, and that word is peeled. 
It was bare, desolate, hot. filthy, hopeless, redolent of all sorts of 
decay, a commingling of battle ground, hospital and cemetery. 



♦Hon. A. \V. Wills, postmaster at Nashville, advises me that Dr. Thompson ha^i 
been dead for more lliaii tliirtv years. 



110 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

In sight of our camp away off across the river, toward the south- 
west, on one of the slopes, where fierce fighting had occurred 
six months before, were long rows of little head boards, over 
acres of bare earth, marking the graves of a buried army — the 
hero dead of Stone River. They have long been gathered into 
the National cemeteries, or removed to northern God's acres. I 
rode all over the famous field while we remained and grew fa- 
miliar with its entire topography and the positions and move- 
ments of the troops engaged, drinking history at its very foun- 
tain. 

The names of the three men of Co. D who were killed in the 
railroad accident August 5, were Obediah and Levi Connell and 
Elisha Wright. 

During the forenoon of August 12, the brigade attended the 
funeral of Colonel David D. Irons of the 86th Illinois, who died 
the day before, and in the afternoon the ofBcers held a memorial 
meeting at which it fell to my lot to draft the resolutions of re- 
spect. I retain a very faint recollection of their form or sub- 
stance. No doubt they were crude enough, but they had the 
merit of sincerity, for the Colonel, as man and officer, was very 
much respected. 

For some days before we left Nashville, I was, in addition 
to the Fifty-second, in command of the remnant of the Third O. 
\'. I., which had been captured on what was known as Streight's 
raid into Alabama, in May, 1863. General John Beatty had 
been its Colonel in 1862. The number of men left in the regi- 
ment was small. They were in command of a captain — I should 
say his name was Leroy S. Bell — and had become much demor- 
alized, so far as discipline was concerned, by their bitter and try- 
ing experiences in the preceding four or five months. They 
were just returned from rebel prisons. My duties to them as 
commander were merely nominal ; as quartermaster and com- 
missary — supplying quarters and subsistence by signing requisi- 
tions — they were actual or substantial. Their camp was near 
our original camping ground in the edge of the city. 

In July, 1863, General John H. Morgan made his famous 
raid through Indiana and Ohio. His course took him past my 
father's house — within a half mile and in sight of it. General 



Ca.M1>S AXl) BaTTI.K-FIEI.DS RlCVlSITKl). 117 

Shackelford, in close pursuit, at that point planted a section of 
artillery on the hill directly in front and within a mile of the 
house and opened on the enemy's column in the valley of Short 
Creek, a mile below. One of my sisters writing under date of 
July 27, among other things, said : "We could see from the 
porch the flash and the smoke and hear the cannon roar. We 
have seen enough of this war ; it may stop now." Many of the 
neighbors lost horses and various other sorts of property, but 
the "old home" was not visited by the raiders. The distance 
from there to the point of final capture is about forty miles. 

When we broke the camp above the old Nashville cemetery 
at 4 o'clock in the morning of August 20th and started south 
along the Franklin pike, it was never again, as a regiment, to 
see the Rock City. 

Two letters written home during the march are as follows : 

"Headquarters Fifty-Second O. V. I., 

Columbia, Tenn., Aug. 26, 1863. 
Dear Parents: 

After a week I find an opportunity to send you a few lines or rathe 
to write them; for when they will be sent I cannot tell. 

August 20th, 4 o'clock a. m. Struck tents and started south on the 
Franklin Pike; reached Brentwood, eleven miles, by noon. Camped on 
the old ground over night. 

21st, 4 a. m. Started for Franklin; camped at 1 p. m. in our old 
camp south of the town. 

Our order of march first day was 52d in the van. Battery I, 2d Illi- 
nois Artillery next, the 85th Illinois, 86th Illinois, brigade wagon train' 
and 125th Illinois rear guard. Second day, same as first save the 85th, 
which marched in front of the artillery and 52d rear guard. 

23d, 5 a. m. Started south and at 1 p. m. camped a mile south of 
Spring Hill near which place Dr. Peters shot General Van Dorn last 
May for daring to violate one of the commandants. The doctor is now 
in jail in Nashville and his abandoned better half lives a lone "vidder" at 
her old home. 

24th, 6 a. m. Moved three miles south to Carter's creek station 
where the rebels some months ago burned four bridges on the Nashville 
& Decatur R. R., all within a space of three miles. 

We started out to repair this R. R., to rebuild the bridges. The 85th 
stopped at Franklin to build one there. The 86th stopped a mile north 
of Spring Hill for the same purpose and the rest of us expected to build 
the four at the camping ground of 24th. 



lis FiFTV-SECOXI) (3. V. I. 

Workmen were selected, all things ready to stick the axes into the 
tall oaks, when, like a clap of thunder, the order came 'Strike tents and 
load.' We were moving in one hour towards Columbia. This was 4 
o'clock p. m., 25th. 

We reached Duck river, which runs by the town, at dusk. I gave 
the order, 'Stack arms,' and now said I, 'Boys, the water is knee deep. 
Those who can roll their pants above their knees need not take them 
off. Those who can't, must shed their breeches.' 

Five hundred pairs of bare legs made their appearance in tive min- 
utes. The boys took arms and over we started. The river is about two 
hundred and fifty yards wide and for one-half hour a continuous shout 
was going up from that string of bare-legged soldiers. They soon dressed 
and we took a temporary camp till morning close by. This morning at 
ten we moved through town and took up quarters in the northern edge 
of the same upon high ground in rear of our splendid battery of six guns. 

We are forty-five miles from Nashville and I think will be farther 
before a month. The first brigade of our division left here to-day for 
Athens, Alabama. I have been in command of the regiment since the 
16th and will probably have to continue so until the 20th of September. 
Lieut. Col. Clancy is at home after conscripts. 

The wagon train goes to Nashville in the morning. Our mail facili- 
ties are not good as yet. 

A. R. is well. Your son, 

J. T. Holmes." 

"Headquarters Fifty-Second O. V. I., 

Stevenson, Ala., Sept. 9, 1863. 
Dear Parents: 

After twenty days' absence from my pen and a place that I could 
mail a letter I find both here. We marched into this place yesterday, 
having traveled two hundred miles since the morning of August 20th. 
You can take the big atlas and trace our course by the towns and cities 
of Franklin, Columbia, Spring Hill, Elkton, Athens, Huntsville, Belle- 
fonte, Stevenson. I have no time now to write such a letter as I should 
like, or such as I will when we come to a little halt. We may remain 
here two days, but all my time will be occupied redressing and equipping 
the regiment. 

There are some huge objects in view within two days march of this 
post. Chattanooga must come down. Our march was a flanking move- 
ment to prevent any body of men from harassing the rear of Rosecrans' 
right. 

Our brigade lost one man out of the battery by the b'te of a scor- 
pion, or too much whiskey given as an antidote. The brigade has four 
regiments and a battery. 



Cami's and Battle-fields Rln'lsitli). 11!) 

The 52d started with five hundred and thirty-four men and officers 
and has all of them yet. Two were wounded in a skirmish at Lynnville, 
Tenn., but not seriously, both in the feet. 

A. R. stands the march well. We are both in good health and ready 
to go on. I'll write again as soon as I can. Until that time excuse me. 
It may be to-morrow. 

Continue to write as heretofore. Don't wait for letters from us, for 
ttv are very irregular. 

Respects to all the friends. Your son, 

J. T. Holmes." 

The entry in the journal for September 1, 1863, closes with 
two names, "Walker, Rider." They meant that we camped that 
afternoon in the immediate vicinity of a still-house and a couple 
of the officers of one of the Illinois regiments slightly distin- 
guished themselves. There was a delusion in the raw material 
which had just run from the "'worm of the still" and our two 
friends, like Adam in the garden, had been thereby "beguiled." 

The form and expression may not, in many parts, corre- 
spond with those of the quiet, the deliberation, and the conveni- 
ences of civil life and maturer years, but they have the charm of 
contemporaneous production and I, therefore, adopt a series of 
writings, which really constituted one letter, covering the time 
from August 20, to September 30, 1863, and let those writings 
tell an "old, old story" in their own way. 

"Headquarters Fifty-Second Ohio Vol. Inft'y., 

RossviLLE, Ga., Sept. 18, 1863. 
Dear Sister: 

I dropped a line home from Stevenson, Ala., but do not know 
whether you received it or not. 1 cannot tell how long I can be allowed 
to write to-day, but be the time what it may I propose to begin at Nash- 
ville, August 20th. We left that place in the morning at five o'clock, 
starting south over the Franklin pike, a road we had traveled twice since 
the 1st of March. Without any special incidents, we reached our old 
camp at Brentwood by noon and rested until the next morning. 

Bright and early, five o'clock, the brigade started on the morning 
of 21st. At noon we reached our old camp one mile south of Franklin. 
The country between Nashville and Franklin is as beautiful as I ever 
saw. Traveling along that smooth wide pike, almost a straight road, the 
land stretches away on either hand in undulations of a nature well cal- 
culated to relieve the eye of the monotonous sense that oppresses it when 
it gazes over miles of dead level. The soil is rich and well watered and 
timbered. It looks like a country in which, in times of peace, men and 



ItiO FlFTY-SECOXD O. \'. I. 

women might enjoy life as God intended it should be enjoyed. As I 
rode along, it reminded me of those regions in Ohio with which I am 
acquainted. I had so often been back and forth that the objects along 
that twenty miles were almost as familiar as the objects on the road from 
home to Cadiz. 

But I must move on, because I have many weary miles to trudge 
with the pen. 

We remained in camp until the morning of the 23d when, leaving 
the 85th Illinois, ostensibly to rebuild railroad bridges, we moved south. 
At noon we passed through Spring Hill where the rebel General Van 
Dorn last saw daylight. 

About two o'clock we camped in a fane grove two miles this side of 
the town. Spring Hill is probably the size of New Athens and very 
much such a looking place. About four miles north of Spring Hill we 
left the 86th Illinois to repair bridges. 

On the morning of 24th, the battery and two remaining regiments, 
52d Ohio, 12.5th Illinois, moved forward four miles to Carter's creek to 
build bridges. Now, we were led to believe we would stop for a time, as 
our declared object when leaving Nashville was to reopen the Nashville 
& Decatur Railroad. 

You will see how we opened it by the time I am through. The idea 
was to throw the rebels off the scent. 

We were ready to commence chopping and hewing. Just as the 
axemen were about to start for the timber the order came, 'Strike tents' 
and 'Load wagons.' This was noon 25th; at dusk we were on the north- 
ern bank of Duck river opposite Columbia. The water was over knee 
deep. The boys off with their shoes, socks and pants and there came 
one of those jolly scenes seldom witnessed by a peaceful people. It was 
one continuous stream of soldiers and one continuous deafening shout 
until the rear was out of the river on the southern bank. The regiment 
donned its clothes and went into camp in the edge of the city. In the 
morning (2r)th), we moved through the place and camped in the other 
edge. Our senior captain was detailed as Provost Marshal and four com- 
panies as Provost Guards and here we remained 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th. 
Colonel McCook had gone back to Nashville from camp at Spring Hill 
and on the 29th came up. 

The two regiments had been under command of Lieut. Col. Langley, 
125th Illinois, in his absence, and as McCook came by Carter's creek the 
citizens made complaints of his soldiers. The result was a brigade order, 
scoring the 52d and 125th and laying down rules for the future govern- 
ment of the brigade. 

Evening of 29th, 85th and 86th both came up and the brigade re- 
ceived marching orders, the 86th to remain at Columbia until relieved 
by troops then on the way from Fort Donelson. At five on the morn- 
ing of the 30th we started. About noon, camped one-half mile south 



Camps and Battle-fields Renisited. l"^i 

of Lynnville in the woods by the side of the pike. All day long we had, 
from time to time, heard of four or five bushwhackers who were keeping 
three or four miles in advance of our van-guard. About six o'clock in 
the evening the Colonel commanding sent four companies out on picket; 
they went respectively towards the four points of the compass. Co. E, 
Captain Mansfield, went about four hundred yards up the valley towards 
the town and threw out sentinels to the front, right and left. Each of 
the other companies marched the same distance and threw out sentinels. 
All was still until morning. Our orders were to march at five in the 
morning and the pickets were to come in at reveille. 

The 52d had reveille before daylight and the companies were "falling 
in' in the grey dawn when, bang went a gun. I had my foot in the stir- 
rup and as I looked in the direction of Mansfield's picket post, I saw in 
rapid succession four flashes and heard four more shots. The firing 
ceased and we waited as patiently as possible to see Co. E come in. It 
happened to be nearly in camp when the firing took place, so it wasn't 
Co. E that had been fired on. The captain said he had sent two men to 
the spring as he came off picket and he supposed they had been shot at. 

In a few minutes the two men were brought in both shot in the feet. 
The five bushwhackers had ambushed the spring and when the boys went 
to fill their canteens preparatory to the day's march, they had tried to 
take their lives and by strange fortune hit them in the understandings. 
One shot, without drawing blood, cut the sole off from the heel of the 
soldier's shoe passing under the foot. The foot turned black right 
across the bottom, but the soldier, Nixon B. Stewart, is ready again to 
march. The other, Corporal Thompson, was shot through the foot, the 
ball entering the ball of the foot and coming out above between the lit- 
tle toe and the next. He is doing well and will soon be able to march. 
After the extent of damage was known, Colonel McCook sent Colonel 
Harmon of the 125th, with three companies, to burn live houses in Lynn- 
ville, the property of the worst rebels. It was done and by eight o'clock 
we moved on not having been able to catch Messrs. Bushwhackers. 
Near 11 o'clock same day— 31st— when within four miles of Pulaski, the 
52d marching in rear of the wagon train and having Companies G and B 
two hundred yards behind the regiment as rear guard, hearing a shot, I 
looked back and saw the first platoon of Co. G, wheeling and letting 
drive eight or ten shots into the woods to the right of the road across a 
narrow cotton field. I rode back double quick and catching my sword 
over a fallen telegraph wire, as a result, broke it nearly loose from my 
body. Captain Rothacker reported the first shot as having been fired 
by a bushwhacker and as having struck about fifteen feet above the two 
companies and richocheted over them. I sent fifteen men from Co. K 
as skirmishers up through the woods and rode back to halt the regi- 
ment. The skirmishers were gone about five minutes when bang, bang, 
bang guns began to go. I took Co. A and struck at double quick up a 



12'^ FiFTY-SECOXJ) ( ). W I. 

lane on the right and at right angles to the pike. When we got up the 
lane one hundred and fifty yards there was a high bank on our right and 
just as we passed behind the bank a Butternut, with gun in hand, 
bounced up and ran some twenty yards in sight of the regiment right 
towards an orchard for which I was making to head off the three mur- 
derers who had been in the attacking squad. At the end of the lane I 
came upon a house and in a minute it was surrounded by bayonets and 
loaded guns. The proprietor and an immense family of marriageable 
girls stood on the porch. The house was searched in a respectful man- 
ner, but the man with butternut breeches, white shirt and gun, was not 
found, although he had been seen running round the corner of the house 
the last place and I fully believe he was concealed therein. The skirmish- 
ers were called in, having, as they reported, wounded two of the murder 
squad, which at first consisted of three. The wounded escaped while 
their pursuers were loading. I sent the Companies A and K back dowri 
the lane to the regiment and that the planter might know what to expect 
in future, I rode up to his porch and asked if he knew what the pjlicy 
pursued now was when a man permitted such desperadoes as those we 
had been hunting to tire upon columns of troops passing, no matter 
whether they fired from the windows of his house or from liis orchard, 
no matter from what point so it was near his house. No, he didn't 
know. 'Well,' said I, 'it is this: If I were to report to the commander 
of these troops what has been done from your ground right there, and 1 
pointed to where Mr. Murderer had shot from, your house would be 
burned down over your head.' 

Said he: 'That would be hard." 'I know it, but if you'll do your 
duty, men cannot fire at passing columns from your very yard, at least, 
not these bushwhackers with which this vicinity seems to be infested.' 
Said he: T've been persuading my neighbors for four or five weeks, not 
to shoot at you all as you went by.' 'Yes,' put in one of his fierce daugh- 
ters, 'I know father said that to his neighbors five weeks ago.' The old 
man and girl no doubt thought they were getting off a good thing by 
their five weeks strong, but I couldn't see it and being in a hurry I said: 
'It is presumed you know your neighbors and can prevent such acts in 
the future right before your very eyes.' You ought to do it and if you 
do not, remember what I have said and this in addition, Lyniiville is partly 
in ashes for a like offense. Good day, sir!" 

I hadn't dreamed of it, but wheeling my horse to rejoin the regi- 
ment, I saw the flames bursting from his two barns. He would think 
me the most impudent man he ever saw, threatening to burn his house 
while his barns were on fire. How they got on fire I did not know and 
when I saw them I didn't care much. I am confident he had in his house 
a creature who outside of the pale of civilized warfare would have taken 
my life if he could have done it. The train had gone on and, as soon as I 
rejoined the regiment, we started forward. Passed through Pulaski and 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisli-ed. 123 

found the rest of the brigade camped on a little creek close to town. 
Columbia and Pulaski, each, about the size of Cadiz; less compactly built. 
In two hours we started on and stopped at dusk on Richland creek, six 
miles from Pulaski. September 1st, 5 a. m., on the move again, at eleven 
o'clock we passed through Elkton and struck Elk river in the edge of 
town, the place deserted. Here we had another strip and wade. More 
fun and hurrahing. In the afternoon we camped by Blowing Springs. 
The springs rise in Alabama and in ten steps flowing the stream is in 
Tennesse'e. Our camp that night was in Tennessee, but I didn't sleep 
till I had taken a drink from the head of the spring in Alabama. I had 
always expected to go into the State of Alabama on high table land, but 
instead thereof we went up this spring run — and the stream is large 
enough to supply a huge still-house by which I pitched my headquarlers 
night of the 1st — between high steep blufifs on the morning of the 2d. 
After we passed the line by the spring and were fairly in Alabama we 
wound up and up through a kind of mountain gorge for two miles; then 
we struck the same lay of land upon which I had all along looked to en- 
ter the state. It was one wide barren without a human being living on 
it, covered with black jack and scrub oak. This we marched through 
for fifteen miles. In the afternoon, came to Athens, Alabama. A verj- 
neat city, but sadly the worse for cruel war. Here we remained until the 
morning of the 4th. 

There may be a fight about here within six hours, as 1 just now 
learn. The enemy is near and may compel us to do battle. God speed 
the right. Your brother, J. T. Holmes." 

"HEADgu.A.RTERS Fiftv-Second O. V. I., 

September 29, 1863. 
Dear Sue: 

After an absence of eleven days from my pen I take it up again. I'll 
commence where I quit, 'Athens, Ala.' I don't mean I quit writing 
there, but quit my history of this campaign. To resume; those bar- 
rens of which I was speaking run almost to Athens. You leave them 
very suddenly nearly in sight of the place and then the land is truly 
beautiful. On the 4th we left Athens for Huntsville, distant twenty-five 
miles; we reached it at dusk. One of the grandest places I ever saw: 
situated in the edge of the mountains, in a valley, at sunset the scene was 
glorious. Our way was through a country upon the left of which lay 
the barrens and on the right a fertile but deserted region. September 
5th, camped at noon on Hurricane creek within a mile of Frank Gur- 
ley's farm, laid waste by order of General Rosecrans. He was the mur- 
derer of Bob. McCook. At ten o'clock we passed old man Gurley's farm. 
After the brigade had passed. Colonel McCook sent me back in com- 
mand of fifty mounted men to burn every building but one or two negro 
shanties, and they were for the accommodation of about a dozen slaves 



12J: Fifty-second O. A'. I. 

belonging to Gurley. I was ordered to deaden the fruit trees and fire 
the fences. Said the Colonel: 'Make it an utter desolation.' We went 
back double quick. I found no white people on the plantation and in 
the execution of my orders burned about twenty-five buildings, among 
others the house in which Frank Gurley was born. This was the 6th. 
Camped at 2 o'clock p. m. at Cave Spring, a spring and a cave. 

On the 7th camped at Bellefonte, a town the size of Georgetown, 
without a soul in it; not a living — not even a 'dorg.' 

September 8th, reached Stevenson, once more saw the cars and 
something like life. It was then and is to some extent yet the base of 
operations for the army of the Cumberland. This made two hundred 
miles march for us. 

September 9th. Drew shoes and clothing for the regiment. 

September 10th. Marched to Bridgeport. Here, for the first time, 
saw the Tennessee river. It is a stream of passing beauty. We crossed 
the pontoon and stopped on the southern bank of the river on the 11th. 

When we went into camp on the 10th, I was a little surprised to see 
the 98th file past my tent door, but there it went and we saw all the boys 
that are still in it. The 40th, too, in which Math. Simpson is Sergeant 
Major camped beside us that night. 

The 69th crossed the pontoons just after us and I saw my friends 
in that. Major Hanna looked very well when I saw him last. The 69th 
was going to the front to rejoin its brigade, having been left at Cowan, 
when the army moved, to guard ammunition forward. It was attached 
temporarily to our brigade, so Johns and I were close together for a 
time. 

September 12th, marched to Shell Mound and within two hundred 
yards of our camp a man could lay his hand on Tennessee, Alabama and 
Georgia without moving; then at the same place is a cave that has been 
explored for fifteen miles without any ends being found. I rode my 
horse 'Charley' about two hundred yards in at the mouth. Said mouth 
is one hundred feet wide and thirty feet h'gh, a grard opening in the 
hills. It was worth traveling one hundred miles to see. The people 
call it Nigger Jack cave; the Indians called it Nickoiack, all this, pre- 
sumably, because a negro by the name of Jack discovered it. It de- 
serves the name of Mammoth cave. 

September 13th. Marched into Chattanooga at 9 p. m.. passing 
over the famous Lookout Mountain in the dusk. The mountain is three 
miles from the city. 

September 14th. Marched out five miles to Rossville, Ga. Here, 
the 69th along, still, we lay in camp 15th, 16th, 17th and until three 
o'clock p. m., 18th. That's when I quit writing. 

Then I received orders to see that every man have sixty rounds of 
ammunition, and be ready to march insta-^tly. Everything was ominous 
of the presence of the enemy. At four o'clock p. m. we moved out some 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 125 

four miles southeast and at dark filed into the woods; we had five regi- 
ments and two batteries. 

Here, on top of a hill, in thick woods, we lay down for the night. 
I'll write no more to-night. We are now seven miles above Chatta- 
nooga and on the river. The enemy is on the olher side of the water. 
Till to-morrow, if no ill luck, good-by, 

J. T. Holmes." 

"Headquarters Fifty-Second Ohio Vol. Inft'y., 

Chickamauga Creek, Tenn., Sept. 30, 18G3. 

I still write, and when I shall quit I don't know. Must go back a 
ways to pick up an item or two. The old man whose barn was burned 
and who had been advising his neighbors not to bushwhack troops pass- 
ing, as I learned before leaving him an hour, had preached the Sabbath 
before to his neighbors and, when talking of the 'Yankees' passing 
through the country on the way south, he said: 'Get on the hill tops, 
waylay the springs, ambush the roads, and, wherever you can, shoot 
them, kill them whenever and wherever you can find them.' This was 
the way he truly advised instead of the other. Item No. 2. From Hunts- 
ville to Chattanooga, in fact wherever we ha.ve been since leaving Hunts- 
ville, it is a continual stream of mountains and you may well believe we 
saw some steep, rough roads. But to come to the hill where we had 
five regiments and two batteries. Early on the morning of the 19th we 
were roused and in line. The boys, a few of them, went to a spring some 
distance east, for water and, as the darkies say, "started 'em." Pop, pop 
the guns commenced going until our pickets were attacked and a smart 
skirmish followed. The enemy were in force in front of us and on our 
right. At eight o'clock we withdrew and returned to Rossville, but what 
had begun in a skirmish for the possession of a spring soon rolled away 
to the right in one of the most terrific battles of the war. Other troops 
moved into our position and the shock of battle was heard until dark. 
We lost from the 52d three men in the morning. Two were wounded 
and all three fell into the enemy's hands. This was Saturday, 19th; at 
noon, we reached Rossville and at three moved out two miles on a road 
directly east. Here we lay in line of battle listening to the fight till' 
dark and waiting until morning. Stragglers said we were "cut to pieces." 

September 20th, at daylight, we moved east perhaps two miles far- 
ther and took up position on a high hill. The second brigade— ours— 
was alone. We marched past the 98th standing in line of battle. It was 
commanded by Captain Urquhart. How they suffered before that day's" 
sun went down! Our position was a mile from theirs. At nine o'clock, 
after we had been watching columns of dust from rebel hordes marching 
over the roads in front of us an hour or more, the ball opened on the 
right of us two miles away. 



126 Fifty-second O. Y. I. 

Chickamauga, Oct. 2, 1863. 

About ten o'clock these columns of dust instead of coming toward 
us bore ofif to the southwest. We had shifted position in the same direc- 
tion one and one-half miles and took up position by General Gordon 
Granger's headquarters in the woods. 

At half-past twelve we moved two miles southwest. Most of this 
march lay along the verge of the battlefield. The whole country was 
on fire, fences, woods, haystacks, houses and everything almost that 
would burn. We entered the road we had gone out on from Rossville 
the evening of the 18th. The battle still raged in front of us as we were 
then marching. I shall never forget the scent that greeted our nos- 
trils through that two miles. It was a mingling of smoke from pow- 
der, burning pines, and the exhalations of dead bodies. Horrible! We 
were marching down a sort of ravine, 86th in front, 85th, Battery I, 52d 
and 125th last, when like a thunder clap, a gun on our left about a hun- 
dred and fifty yards off and seemingly above us landed a solid shot over 
the heads of the 52d. I saw Colonel McCook and the regiments in ad- 
vance getting out of the way up the hill to the right, for they were riding 
and walking right into the rebel battery, having turned the head of our 
column up the left side going down the ravine. The Colonel motioned 
to me and shouted, 'March your regiment up here.' I brought it to a 
front and about faced it, when here came a shell, as the joker would have 
it, saying, 'Where, where are you?' It didn't find anybody but lighted 
about four feet behind 'Charley' and the same distance from Co. F, with- 
out bursting. 'Forward march!' and although grape and canister, with 
shot and shell flew over and round us the regiment marched steadily up 
the hill with their backs to the iron storm. We soon gained the crest 
of the hill and Battery I was planted, with the 52d and the 125th on the 
left of it, lying flat on the ground, behind the brow of the hill, but so that 
two sentinels could see over without being exposed. The 125th lay be- 
hind us in the edge of some woods that covered the ground in our rear. 
The 52d lay in open ground and had an open slope of three hundred yards 
in front down to the run — up the other side was woods and in the woods 
the rebels. The 86th and 85th lay on the right of the battery, one behind 
the other. As soon as we were in position, the rebel battery ceased 
firing. Here we lay and, at three o'clock, there came one of those hushes 
so ominous in battle. As quickly as thought, about one-half mile on our 
right the two lines of musketry opened, the conflict rolling away to the 
right, and for one hour and a half old soldiers say it was the heaviest 
they ever heard. 

The fighting was awful. The rebels had tried to break through 
Thomas' corps. They failed and at the end of the hour and a half were 
driven back. As soon as repulsed there they seemed to swing in on us 
and with two batteries commenced to lift shot and shell at the second 
brigade, second division, reserve corps. 



Camps and Uattle-fiklds Ri-a'i.sited. 1"^7 

Barnett, the Captain of our battery, opened on them and in an hour 
had so far disabled the famous Washington battery, stolen from New 
Orleans, that General Turchin's brigade charged through it from the 
rebels' rear. Turchin had driven them back and captured five hun- 
dred prisoners, but it grew so hot he had to abandon them and in return- 
ing to our lines he ran through this battery. Barnett held his fire while 
the brigade was charging. The 52d had one lieutenant and three men 
struck by pieces of shell. The 125th had one killed and three struck. 
The other two regiments had four or five men struck. The fighting 
lasted till dark when Barnett closed the battle for Sunday by a salvo of 
six guns. One man of the 52d was struck on the mouth with a piece of 
shell and had to ride in the ambulance; all the rest of the brigade were 
able to march to Rossville as we did at eight that night, distance about 
four miles. The whole army fell back at dark. Second brigade was the 
last to leave the field and the troops of John C. Breckinridge were said 
to have a very wholesome fear of its battery and bayonets. How strange 
that I once admired Breckinridge more than any other public man in 
the United States and within seven years lay under the whistling balls 
of his traitorous guns. It is said our brigade fought his division. Be 
that as it may, we moved as quietly as mice that night until we reached 
Rossville. The Army of the Cumberland seemed to be lying in that val- 
ley and, to tell the truth, much dispirited, not whipped by any means, 
but disheartened at the prospect of resisting 100,000 with 60,000. The 
morning of the 21st came; brigades and divisions moved up on the hills 
to take position. At noon we took our place on the side and top of what 
is called Missionary Mountain. Our left rested on a road that passes 
through a gap in the mountains. The line of battle was still from north- 
east to southwest. Here we were lying quietly about one o'clock, behind 
rude log breastworks thrown up by the boys in a few minutes. The 
mountain is covered with forest as is most of the country here for miles. 

We could look left oblique down on the road for some distance. 
About one o'clock the rebels having found no opposition and thinking 
we were in Chattanooga, came marching along the road to go through 
the gap. They missed it. Eight guns planted in the gap and masked 
opened on their column and scattered them to the hills. 

In twenty minutes they had two batteries on the hill opposite where 
our brigade rested, but they naturally turned their whole attention to our 
artillery in the bottom. Then commenced the fight anew. If there is 
anything grand in battle, we saw and heard it. Rebel shells wide of their 
mark would burst over and behind the regiment. Occasionally, both on 
Sunday and Monday, a shot would take off a large limb or a tree-top and 
let it tumble to the earth. 

At this gap. we had too many guns for them. Two twenty-four 
pounders were brought into action and at each discharge the earth would 
tremble while the shrieking of the shell as it went in search of the ene- 



128 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

my's guns was terrific. The r2oth was lying behind us again and had 
another poor fellow killed and one slightly wounded, while we had no 
one hurt, although if the enemy had been able to see us we could have 
been badly hurt for we were in fair range, but the wood concealed us. 
Bullets whistled overhead and struck in our breastworks from time to 
time; part of the regiment fought from trees in front of our works with 
rebel skirmishers for four hours. Night came at last. How the soldier 
longs for darkness to relax the tension of his powers by putting an end 
to battle! — Wellington is credited with saying at Waterloo: 'Oh! that 
night or Blucher would come!' — As soon as it was completely dark our 
brigade was drawn ofif and we marched into Chattanooga. When day- 
light broke again — 22d — the Army of the Cumberland was disposed on 
the hills immediately around the city. The work of fortification went 
steadily on and has daily been growing stronger since. On 23d our 
brigade took up position as the third line of troops behind the forts and 
rifle pits. Morning of the 24lh I stumbled on Major Sam. Brown's 
grave. He was Major of the 65th, wounded '20Ji, died 22d. It was in 
the cemetery about twenty steps from where the left of 52d was resting. 

Soon after, I met Tom. McElravy, Captain 74th. Still Tom. The 
98th lost about fifty-five officers and men in Sunday's fight. It lay on 
the left of the 52d in the cemetery on the 24th. Eleven o'clock at night, 
the enemy attacked but were repulsed without loss on our side, four bs- 
ing wounded. I could write a book, but must close. 

On 25th we crossed the river and moved up four miles to Caldwell's 
ford. Fortified the bank on 26th. 

September 27th moved to a ford three miles above at the mouth of 
what is called on my map West Chickamauga creek. Here we are yet, 
to prevent the enemy's crossing to our rear. 

The boys sometimes talk across the river to rebel pickets. Rebels 
offer to trade whiskey for coffee. They ask: 'Why don't you all go 
home so we can go too?' 

As I have always felt, / would there zvas no war. Where nature has 
made us one, however, one zve must remain. 

Sooner or later this fact will be reached and kindred will no longer 
raise hand against kindred and blood will cease to flow in this destruc- 
tive civil war. The losses in this battle I cannot estimate. Ours may be 
twelve hundred killed, twenty-five hundred wounded, and two thousand 
prisoners. I don't know what the official name of the fight will be. It 
was fought in the valley of East Chickamauga creek and Chickamauga 
may be its name. 

The 52d is five men less than when these operations began. We 
have been miraculously spared thus far. 

You might wonder what I thought when death was all around me. 
I thought of a good many things, but so far I my own individual self 
was concerned, I thought: 'The power that made preserves and sustains 



Camps and 1)ATTle-fiel])S Ri:\isiii:i). 120 

us.' The rest of my thoughts were directed to the manageineiit of the 
52d regiment, five hundred men. 

And where was A. R. all this time? I can answer. In his place. He 
has not been out of it for three hundred miles marching and fighting. 
Plucky for the little sergeant, isn't it? 

Do soldiers want peace? They do, and it is peace for which they 
are fighting. I wish it were here now, but I bide with patience the time 
when it may come. All is quiet about here now and I cannot say that 
we have any indications of fight for some time. Maj^ be you will not' 
receive this letter. If you don't I'll be disappointed. Give the photo- 
graph to Aunt Sue Dickerson and my respects to all the friends. Tell 
them, too, a soldier has but little chance to write when he marches or 
fights all day and sleeps at night on the ground rolled up in a blanket. 
We have had splendid weather for six weeks. It rained yesterday for the 
first. I remain, your brother, J. T. Holmes." 

The official report of regimental operations on the Chicka- 
mauga field, although in part a repetition, will appropriately 
close this chapter. It is taken from Vol. 55, pp. 879-882, War 
Records : 

"Headouarters Fiftv-Second Ohio Vol. Inft'y., 

Chickamauga Creek, Tenn., Oct. 10, 18t)3. 

"Sir: I have the honor to make the following report of the part 
taken by this command in the battle of Chickamauga: 

At Rossville, Ga., between 2 and 3 p. m. of Friday, September 18th, 
I was ordered to 'See that every man of the command has 60 rounds ot 
ammunition and be ready to march at a moment's notice.' Following 
Battery I, Second Illinois, Captain Barnett commanding, as ordered, 
about 3 o'clock, the regiment moved out. Our march lay along the La- 
fayette road a distance of five miles, at which point we struck a road to 
the left leading to Reed's Bridge. After following this road a mile I was 
ordered to take position at right angles with the road, the left of the regi- 
ment resting near it. The position was not reached until nightfall. 

The men were ordered to lie down by their guns and preserve strict 
silence. I was ordered to send a picket force 300 or 400 yards in front, 
extending the line beyond the right of the regiment to protect the left ol 
the Eighty-sixth Illinois. 

It was sent forward and took the position ordered as nearly as the 
denseness of the woods and undergrowth would permit in the darkness. 

At daylight on the morning of the 19th, I was directed by a stafif offi- 
cer from Colonel McCook to change front to rear on the first company, 
afterward to move by the right flank 100 paces. 

Very soon slight skirmishing commenced with the pickets in front 
of our original position, and also at the spring some distance to the left 
of the position then occupied. 



130 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

About 8 a. 111. I was ordered to march my command b.v the right 
flank on the left of the battery, as it was then moving toward the Lafay- 
ette road. Striking this road I was directed to follow with the regiment, 
that portion of the battery moving toward Rossville. At this point the 
pickets sent out the night before rejoined the regiment. We reached, 
Rossville at noon. In the afternoon the regiment, as directed, took up 
position on the Ringgold road at the top of Mission Ridge, where it re- 
mained through the night. 

After passing McAfee's Church early on the morning of the 20th, 
Company D, Captain Neighbor commanding, and Company B, Lieu- 
tenant Duff commanding, were thrown forward as skirmishers, and Com- 
pany I, Lieutenant Marsh commanding, was deployed to cover the right 
flank of the regiment. Thus disposed, the regiment moved over a mile 
toward the Chickamauga, when I was ordered to halt, face it about, and 
follow the column. The skirmishers and flankers were at the same time 
ordered to march in retreat. 

Upon the hill seized by the brigade immediately afterward, I was 
ordered to form line of battle lUU paces in rear of the Eighty-sixth Illi- 
nois, upon the left of the battery. The skirmishers, by direction of a 
staff officer from the Colonel commanding, were deployed in front and 
upon the left flank of the position. l,f)UO yards distant. 

Later in the day, lO a. ni., the skirmish companies having been or- 
dered in, I was ordered to march the regiment in rear of the Eighty-fifth 
Illinois, and when the position near McAfee's Church was taken up I 
was directed with the regiment to take position on the left of the battery 
in rear of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois. From here, as 
ordered, I sent two companies to join the skirmishers of the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-fifth Illinois. They were Company C, Captain Thomas 
commanding, and Company H, Lieutenant Summers commanding. 

At noon, being ordered to have the skirmish companies of the regi- 
ment recalled quickly, I directed Adjutant Masury to apprise them of the 
order to move and conduct them to the regiment. In the march, from 
the church to Cloud's house, according to order. I followed the battery 
with the regiment. 

When suddenly fired upon in the low grounds near that house the 
command was marching by the right flank. It was halted instantly, the 
rear carriages of the battery having halted a moment before. Without 
delay the Colonel commanding in person directed me to move the regi- 
ment behind the crest of the hill on our right. 

Facing the regiment from flank to front, and as quickly facing it to 
the rear, I ordered it forward. The distance over which the regiment 
must march with the backs of the men unavoidably exposed to the fire 
of the enemy's battery could not have been short of three hundred yards. 
Shots were flying and shells were bursting in front and rear of the regi- 
ment, upon its right and left flanks, and over it, and yet, strange as it 



CaMI'S and JJATTLE-FIEr.US RliNlSlTED. 131 

might appear to those who witnessed it, not a man was injured. The 
movement was steadily execttted, save the slight interruption of a fence 
that lay obliquely in our way. 

The crest of the hill gained, a new enemy confronted the position we 
were ordered to take on the left of the battery. The tall grass and the 
weeds down the slope in front of us had been fired through the day, and 
a line of flame driven by the breeze directly in the faces of the men com- 
pelled a withdrawal of a few paces, tintil a detail should brush away the 
new foe. The task was speedily completed; we moved to our position. 

After lying under fire of the enemy's guns almost or quite an hour, 
I received an order to have the men rise, as the enemy were thought to 
be on the point of charging. The order, 'Rise up,' was no sooner given 
than as one man and instantly the regiment sprang to its feet. The 
enemy's skirmishers appeared on our left and fired, but were quickly 
driven back to the woods for shelter. Such was the excellence of our 
position at this time, that while shot and shell, with occasional grape and 
rifle balls, hummed and whistled close to the line of heads along that 
crest, the open field in front was completely commanded by our arms. 

With the advent of night the sounds of battle died away. I received 
an order immediately after dark to move quietly out by the left flank, as 
soon as I cotxld recall the pickets that had been first posted 300 yards in 
front of the command. It was done, and after a brisk march of about 
five miles the regiment bivouacked at Rossville. 

On the following morning Company F, Captain Hutchison com- 
manding, rejoined the regiment, having been left on picket when the 
command was ordered out on the 18th. Every company was now pres- 
ent; besides those already mentioned were Company G, Captain Roth- 
acker commanding; Company E, Captain ^Mansfield commanding; Com- 
pany A, Lieutenant Lane commanding; Company K, Lietttenant James 
commanding. 

At noon. ■21st. I was ordered to move the regiment up ^lissionary 
Mountain, and by the personal directions of the Colonel commanding, 
occupied the side of the mountain, the right of the regiment resting near 
the crest, and the left slightly refused near the road; the Eighteenth Ohio 
upon our left; the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio* upon the right. In 
one-half hour a line of breastworks was formed of logs and bushes from 
the mountain side. It covered the entire regiment. 

About 2 p. m. our skirmishers. Company A, were attacked by those 
of the enemy. This firing was continuous for four hours. Our skirmish 
line was 50 j'ards in front of the temporary breastworks, in which many 
of the enemy's balls lodged. Shells from the enemy's gtxns were con- 
stanth' bursting and flying over the regiment, until darkness came on, 
when the order was received to withdraw from the mountain withotit 



*A note to my report points out that the 104th reg'inient mentioned was probably 
the 104th Illinois, not Ohio. 



VS'i Fifty-second O. V. I. 

noise or confusion at 8 p. m. precisely, and march into Chattanooga, 
Avhich place the regiment reached at 11 p. m. 

On the morning of the L'3d, the regiment was ordered from its posi- 
tion in the outskirts of the city to form line behind the fort and rifle-pits 
to the east. 

After noon of the "-'■jth, ordered to move across the pontoon and four 
miles up the river. 

Evening of the 27th, ordered to the present camp. 

Our loss was three men on the 19th and two on the 20th. 

I could not make special mention of any officer or officers of this 
command that would not be injustice to the others in it whose names 
could not appear in a report of this length. 

It will suffice to say that through all, both officers and men bore 
their parts with a steady firmness and brave endurance that must ever 
reflect upon them with honor. In the midst of rumors of terrible disas- 
ter to our arms, they never were disheartened, but believed that, although 
temporary reverses might befall us, in God and right is our strength, and 
we cannot fail of ultimate and permanent success. 

I am. Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. T. Holmes, 
Major, Commanding Regiment. 

C.vPTAiN E. L. Anderson, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, Second Brigade." 

Arrangements are all made to go over the Chickamanga 
battlefield to-morrow. It will consume the entire day. 



Cami's and r>ATTT,i->FiEr.DS Rfaisited. 133 

Chattanooga, May 20, 1897. 

This morning, about 8 :30, we stepped into a carriage and 
were driven directly to Rossville, the camp of my regiment from 
September 14 to September 18, 1863, parts of both days inclu- 
sive. A considerable town has sprung up there because of the 
construction of a railroad, which runs from Chattanooga via 
Crawfish Springs, south. In the gap on the right hand side of 
the Lafayette road going south, I located our position during 
the afternoon of September 21, 1863, as we lay under the artil- 
lery fire of the enemy. It was here that I first saw General John 
Beatty, as he walked along the line in rear of the 53d down to 
the road. He was, like the rest of us, younger then than now. 
Very soon, as we drove along, after coming in sight of the old 
John Ross house, still standing, we began to see the tablets pre- 
pared by the government and set in proper positions to advise 
the tourist, inquirer and participant with reference to positions 
and movements of troops and batteries, and these tablets are all 
over the field where men — federal and confederate — moved and 
fought and bled and died on the 1.9th, 20th, and 21st days of Sep- 
tember, 1863. The main body of our army came on the field 
from the south, by way of Crawfish Springs, but the Reserve 
Corps, under General Gordon Granger, to which we belonged, 
entered it from the north by w^ay of Rossville Gap. 

Presently our driver, an intelligent colored man, stopped 
and pointed out McAfee's Church, a mile or more to our left and 
rear. The fence around the buildings was visible through a 
gap among the trees, but, as the sun was then shining, the build- 
ings could not be seen, even with a glass, owing to the shade 
of the trees. The old structure still stands in the same yard with 
the new one, which has been erected since the war. As we re- 
turned late in the afternoon we had no trouble, from the same 
spot, to see the church. A short distance further down the road, 
we came to the position at Cloud's house. I did not leave the 
carriage and noted that the road has been made straight instead 
of curving, as it did tlicn, down hill to the right toward the 
Spring. Beyond the McDonald house we took the Reed's 
bridge road to the left and after traveling about a mile and a half 



lo-J- FiF'i^--SKcn.\n ( ). \'. I. 

came to the position which we occupied on the night of Septem- 
ber l(Sth, not far from tlie bridge. The monument of the 52d 
is properly located — between the position of the regiment and its 
skirnush line — and the only criticism I have to make of the in- 
scription is that my name is "James F. Holmes." It may not 
be difficult to correct the obnoxious letter. Here the first guns 
WQXii fired on the morning of the 19th by some of the men of our 
brigade who had gone to a spring down in front, just at day- 
light. From this position we were drawn back to Rossville dur- 
ing the forenoon and Vandeveer's and Croxton's brigades went 
in and the battle began in earnest. We met these troops east 
of the Lafayette road as we came out. (^ur driver followed the 
line of monuments and tablets sul^stantially from the position 
at jay"s mill to the south side of the Kelly field where we again 
turned south on the Lafayette road. We made a stop at the 
Brotherton house and had a drink of water. It was here that 
the famous gap was made in our line by a mistaken order sent by 
General Rosecrans to General T. J. Wood. "Close up on Bran- 
nan." There w^as no way for him to obey except by drawing his 
division out of the line and moving it behind Brannan. This 
left the gap through which the rebels ])oured and broke our right 
wing. 

Hie monuments and tablets continue on up to Lee and 
Gordon's mills — still standing — still running, for that matter, 
and still owned by the Lee estate. We passed our camp which 
was across the road, a little north w-est of the mill and stopped on 
top of the rise of ground immediately west of the mill where the 
Lee house stood during the war and still stands. It was General 
Wood's headquarters on the night of September 18, and the 
General, w-ith his wWc and daughter, or with the latter, was there 
quite recently. The road ran around this hill to the left, nearer 
the mill, in that "elder day." 

A small house has been built just north of the Lee house on 
the same side of the new road over the knoll. I left the carriage 
and went to the front gate of this new house to inquire about my 
gray horse, left V'ith Mr. Hall when the Atlanta campaign be- 
gan. On the front porch were a half dozen people, old and 
young. I fired av^ay at the crowd with my questions about Mr. 



Camps axd Battle-fields Revisited. 135 

Hall, who, I iearne<l; died some three years ago; about Diggory 
ShoU, who married the Byrd girl, while we camped at the mill, 
and was tied up by the thumbs by McCook, for marrying in vio- 
lation of orders, and who is said to be now living w^ith that wife 
at Dalton, Ga.; about the gray horse and his subsequent history. 
I soon found myself talking with a son-in-law of Mr. Hall, but 
he could tell me nothing about the horse, except that he thouglit 
Sholl had gotten him on my order. Sholl obtained the order 
for him soon after the w'ar, but never reported the horse to me in 
Ohio as he promised to do, if I would give him the order. The 
son-in-law said his wife, who was away from home, would no 
doubt remember all about the transaction. Mr. Hall lived down 
the creek from the mills, a mile or more. 

While we were stopped at the mills two carriages passed us 
going south. We had seen them both as we were driving along 
the lines from Reed's bridge or Jay's mill to the Kelly field. At 
Crawfish Springs, t\vo miles above, we found that General Boyn- 
ton and Major Smartt, of Chattanooga, were in one of them. 
Boynton is the historian of Chickamauga and now a member 
of the Park Commission, while Smartt was on the other side of 
the question from Chickamauga to Bentonville and is now a shoe 
merchant in Chattanooga. 

At the Springs, to their surprise, we met the brothers, Chas. 
and Geo. Elliott, brothers of J. M., the photographer of Colum- 
bus, who are running the hotel at that point. The ride and 
the heat had prostrated Mrs. H. and she could not eat any din- 
ner, or go about the Springs. Everything could fortunately be 
seen around them from the hotel windows. 

Joe. Swan of Co. G rode with me to them, from the camp at 
the mills, some time in April, 1864. Then they poured out of 
the ground just as nature and the action of the water had left it. 
An old wheel, which looked as if it had belonged to some kind of 
mill, was then standing by the Spring. It was beginning to 
grow dusk and 1 did not examine it particularly, as Swan and I 
had ridden up specially to see the Springs. Xow, there is a dam 
of stone masonry just below the spring, which makes a lake 
some forty feet in diameter and 1 should say eighteen or twenty 
feet in depth. A wheel-house is built at the west end of the 



13G FlFTY-SEC(lNI) O. \'. I. 

dam and the power is used to pump water to the Lee mansion, 
a little way above the spring, and to operate the dynamos for the 
house and the hotel. Mr. Geo. Elliott told me that the effect 
of building the dam had been to decrease the power and appar- 
ent flow of the spring by forcing the water through channels 
which conducted it into the creek at different points down the 
stream, but that recently it seemed to be recovering its former 
strength. It belongs to the Lee, or Lee and Gordon, estate, and 
Mr. Lee, the son of the war-time head of the firm, and grandson 
of Mr. Gordon, the other partner, would tear down the dam if it 
promised permanent injury to the Spring. The Spring is the 
strongest issue of water from the ground I remember ever to 
have seen. It is a creek from the source, perhaps twenty feet 
wide and from ten to twelve inches deep. A fishing club has 
dammed the stream a mile or more down toward the mills and 
has splendid fishing grounds all the way up to the hotel. The 
water of the Spring lake has a strange blue color, in the lake, but 
is clear when dipped up. 

The hotel, exceedingly well kept by the Columbus brothers, 
is a commodious and attractive building, frequented at all sea- 
sons of the year by visitors and tourists from "all over the 
world," for several reasons. Crawfish Springs are as famous 
as Chickamauga battlefield and must ever keep pace with its 
fame, because shots were exchanged as the troops were passing 
here on their way to the field, which must ever remain one of the 
deadliest in the world's history. A visit to the battlefield is in- 
complete without a visit to the Springs. 

Mr. Charles Elliott introduced me to Mr. Lee, the son and 
grandson referred to, and I had quite an interesting conversa- 
tion with him while we waited on the veranda. He is now about 
forty }ears of age and was a very small boy, playing about the 
old home and the mills when we were camped there from March 
6 to May 3, 186-1. He is now a member of the Georgia monu- 
ment commission, which state has projected a monument eighty 
feet in height to be erected near the Poe field. The work on the 
foundation has already been commenced. 

At the Springs we met General Stewart, who commanded a 
confederate division during the engagement, General Boynton, 



Camps and Battle-fields Ri-:\isitei). 13T 

already referred to, also Major Sniartt and a major of the regu- 
lar army, whose name 1 failed to catch. General Stewart is a 
member of the Park Commission in the pay of the g-overnment 
and a representative of the confederate interests, so to speak, in 
the establishment of the park itself. He and his wnfe live at the 
Park Hotel in very comfortable quarters. The General is well 
preserved and apparently in sound bodily health, enjoying life 
while aiding in the preservation of the memories of what was 
possibly the bloodiest battle of his experience. 

The government has accjuired something over six thousand 
acres for park purposes, but there are still considerable portions 
of the battle grounds lying outside of the park limits. For ex- 
ample, the line of the park is still quite a distance south of the 
Cloud house position. It is contemplated to purchase all of the 
ground covered by the contending forces as the owners may be 
willing to sell at reasonable prices. A vast amount of labor has 
been performed already in marking the field and putting the park 
in order. The thick underbrush which obscured much of the 
fighting ground between the Lafayette road and the creek has 
been cleared away so as to permit an intelligent view of posi- 
tions and movements of both armies on the 19th and 20th of Sep- 
tember, while the timber is preserved so as to leave the grounds, 
wood and field, very nearly as they were during the two days' 
action. 

The government has built nearly one hundred and fifty 
miles of fine roadways, including the line along Mission Ridge 
summit, running along and through all the leading lines of bat- 
tle in that kaleidoscopic and dramatic, as well as tragic, engage- 
ment. The work is still progressing under the careful and thor- 
oughly intelligent direction of the commissioners. 

It was 4 p. m. when we said good-by to our hosts and to 
the guests and visitors of the Park House, whom I have already 
mentioned, and began the return drive. 

Before I stepped into the carriage, I asked Mr. George El- 
liott to show me over the hotel so that I might have some idea of 
its rooms and halls and appcMUtments if any persons should in- 
quire about Crawfish Springs as a southern summer or winter 
resort. WhWc charv of indorsements of all kinds, 1 should have 



138 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

no hesitation in commending the Park to visitors and tourists of 
my acquaintance at any season of the year. Its patronage is 
largely from the south, but northerners are making it a stopping 
place in the cooler months and will always be contributors to its 
support by an increasing patronage. 

General Wilder was an active spirit in the origin of the en- 
terprise and Federal and Confederate took part in its original 
management, which did not prosper. A loss of nearly $100,000 
occurred and the result has been to place the property in new 
hands and under more conservative auspices, on a sounder basis. 
Our return was made by way of Widow Glenn's — Rosecrans' 
headquarters on the 19th and 20th, until the break — where a 
huge tower of masonry, now some forty feet high, is in process 
of construction. It is surrounded l)y monuments, markers and 
tablets. Next we passed the Vittitoe house and then the "bloody 
pond" south of Snodgrass hill. A good deal of romancing has 
been done about this pond. On the 20th cavalry horses and sol- 
diers in considerable numbers were congregated about it as the 
only water for long distances, and a confederate battery, getting 
the range, killed a goodly number of the horses, and dead and 
wounded soldiers were very naturally about its borders. Some 
of the horses, loose, led and ridden, were killed in the water and 
their blood no doubt stained it, for General Wilder at one time 
during the day waded out beyond the bodies of the horses and 
took a drink out of the central portion of the pond. The stories 
beyond these facts aljout the "bloody pond" have a good deal of 
fiction in them. The water is perhaps twenty to twenty-five 
yards across and lies in an open valley near the foot of the gorge 
in Snodgrass hill up which the confederates charged with such 
valor and desperation and where they were as valorously and 
desperately repulsed again and again from about 4 p. m. until 
near nightfall of the 20th. This fighting we could hear as we lay 
on Cloud's hill, in sight, about two miles away, toward the north 
of northeast. The roadway to the crest where Steadman charged 
runs up this gorge, which is steep, but without sharply defined, 
or rugged, angles. When the crest is reached from the south 
you are in a depression of the ridge. Here you find yourself 
among the monuments and tablets which stand for, and cele- 



Cami'S and Battlk-fiki.ds Revisi'iki). 139 

brate the. achievements of the troops of our Reserve Corps under 
Granger, which marched from McAfee's to the rehef of Thomas, 
who here won the title, "Rock of Chickamauga," guided through 
the meadows tow^ard the south, southwest by the sound of 
Thomas's guns. Granger's march and work tliat afternoon were 
characteristic of the great General, if he did threaten to whip the 
boys for foraging- at Rossville. He was at McAfee without or- 
ders. His ears and instincts told him that somebdy was hard 
pressed and needed help and without waiting for orders he 
started with his corps to the point of need. Dropping our 
brigade at the Cloud house, or hill, or spring, he pushed on to 
Snodgrass house with Steadman's division and Mitchell's brig- 
ade and reached that position just in the nick of time to prevent 
a great and final disaster to the whole army and to launch his 
men where old mortality reaped a harvest well nigh unprece- 
dented and w'here that portion of the Reserve Corps secured im- 
mortality of fame. 

As it began to grow dusk, that day. Granger in person ap- 
"peared at oiu* position on Cloud's hill. The sounds of battle 
had died away at Snodgrass and Thomas had begun a sullen re- 
tirement. 

General Lytle's monument crowns a knoll between Widow 
Glenn's and Snodgrass hill. He was killed there in the after- 
noon of the 2()th and it w^as about the same time that Rosecrans 
lost the thread of the battle — so rapid were the changes in posi- 
tions on the right — and started for Chattanooga to reorganize 
the fragments of his army and prepare the defense of the city. 

To go back to Cloud's hill for a minute. ]^)arnett's battery 
was served with efificiency and precision from 4 p. m. until dark 
and I think fired the last artillery shots of that battle. Granger. 
Garfield, McCook and the commanding officers of the several 
regiments of the brigade stood by the battery while Granger 
gave the final orders to the artillery men w^orking it. In the 
gloom of the falling night, he ordered the six guns, twelve- 
pounder Napoleons, charged and then, at his word, the six lan- 
yards were pulled. The concussion shook the old hill and all 
that was on it. There was no response from the enemy. It was 
growing darker. He said: "Give them another salvo." The 



140 FiFTV-SKCOXD (). \'. I. 

guns were charged again and at his command the whole six, as 
one gun, belched out their seventy-two pounds of iron and pow- 
der and fuse. There was no reply ; the battle of Chickamauga 
had become history. An hour later, or more, we quietly moved 
away to Rossville. 

Now, I take up our carriage ride again. We studied monu- 
ments and tablets from the top of the gorge mentioned up the 
slope to the top of the knoll where the tower stands and the con- 
formation of the hill on all sides with intense interest. Over the 
knoll and toward the north a hundred yards away stands the 
Snodgrass house, part of which was there on the day of the bat- 
tle. It is still inhabited. The tower on the hill is a light iron 
frame inside of which you climb the stairway from platform to 
platform seventy-five feet to the upper floor from which the 
whole battlefield seems spread out as a map at your feet, as you 
look east across the wide meadows, which still lie open from 
Cloud hill to Widow Glenn's and from Mission hills to the La- 
fayette road and over the forest to the creek itself. To a partici- 
pant, or to a student of military movements or history, the pan- 
orama is one to carry through life. 

The Chickamauga guardian, a sort of mounted and uniform- 
ed police, in the pay of the government, for that part of the field, 
ascended the tower with me, Mrs. H. being too much used up 
by the long, hot ride, of the forenoon to climb with us. He was 
a loyal Tennessee soldier, a participant in the action and his ap- 
pointment to the post of guardian seems very appropriate on 
every consideration. He is a very sensible, well informed sol- 
dier, who has made a special study of the field and knows accvi- 
rately all he has so far learned of the details of the battle. I en- 
joyed the twenty minutes we spent on that upper platform to the 
utmost. It is the point of all the field not to be omitted or over- 
looked, in any way, by the soldier, or civilian, who would like to 
carry away the most comprehensive idea of the battle of Chicka- 
mauga. Of course, I do not intend to convey the idea that either 
the civilian or the soldier, without previous preparation, can go 
up alone and inspire great drafts of knowledge, or enthusiasm, 
from looking over fields and woods and shinrng marble and 
granite. This is not to be expected. My meaning is that such 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 141 

an one, possessed of a general knowledge of the battle and the 
battlefield, shall arrange for time and the guardian on the tower 
and by the help of the officer, locate and study the main and many 
of the minor points of topography and the movements of troops 
over the vast field. The soldier or civilian, interested in such 
things, will so fix in mind one of the greatest object lessons of 
his life. 

As we came down the steps of the tower I noticed that my 
friend "the blooming idiot" had been from base to summit with 
his pencil and left his name for future generations to read as a 
silly nobody from Stumptown in the state of Gorman, July or 
December, or some other month, in the year of grace 18 — . I 
mentioned this execrable character to the guardian and he said 
the government agent had posted notices and given warnings 
against such work, but even Uncle Sam could not prevent a 
man's showing that he was a fool when God had made him that 
way for some wise or inscrutable purpose. Nothing but death 
will cure him. It is safe to say that they — the fools — delight to 
read each others names in such places ; sensible people waste no 
time reading and still less remembering them. 

Coming down from this lofty scrutiny of Chickamauga, at 
the point where the two days conflict substantially ended at night- 
fall of September 20, 1863, we drove past the Snodgrass house 
and directly through the meadow, by the road northeast, to the 
Lafayette road south of the McDonald house and when we came 
to the Cloud Spring, I left the carriage and went over on the hill- 
side, a sort of large bench just below the timber, south of the 
house, the timber standing now as it stood then. Cultivation and 
wash and drainage have somewhat changed the surface and ap- 
pearance of the little ridge at the north end especially, but the po- 
sition is easily found. I stood where the battery stood that day 
and walked the line where my regiment lay under the fire of the 
battery of Walthall's brigade beyond the McDonald house. Al- 
though no sound broke the stillness, I imagined for a moment 
that the terrific fire on Snodgrass hill was going again and that 
McCook's brigade on Cloud's hill could catch its notes in the 
lull of artillery discliarges in its own line and front. 



142 P'iFTY-SECOND O. \\ I. 

Returning to the road, as I passed the spring near which the 
rows of dead, each with his blanket over him, lay as we marched 
by it that day, I talked with a small, brown-faced, bare-footed 
girl, with dark eyes, a head covered with tangled curls, wearing 
a blue dress, dipping water from the spring. She was about nine 
years old. She had heard of Cloud's house, but had never seen 
it and said there were some bricks on the hill, pointing to the lo- 
cation of the old house, where she supposed it had stood long ago. 
A new cabin has been erected further north along the road and 
further from the Spring. The guardian told me that, except a 
part of the Snodgrass house and a log or two of the Kelly house 
and, possibly, part of another structure, none of the houses or 
buildings which were on the field during the battle are now stand- 
ing. As we passed by the Brotherton house in the forenoon, a 
woman living in it said, "Some say its the same house and some 
say it isn't. I don't know." The guardian told me that the 
Brotherton and Kelly houses had been rebuilt as nearly like the 
originals as they could be made. The originals were destroyed 
during the battle. 

Passing a little to the right of Rossville, we traversed the 
road which the government has constructed along the crest of 
Mission Ridge over nearly its entire length. This road, like 
everything else from Uncle Sam's hand, is finely engineered 
and splendidly built. It runs, some times on the very crest, but 
for the most part, just at the top of the western slope so as to show 
the whole valley of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, the Tenn- 
essee valley and Walden's ridge, from start to finish. I think it 
does not pass to the other side of the crest except in a single in- 
stance where it passes to the rear of a house evidently built before 
the road was laid out. 

The battle of Mission Ridge, seen in the view from Lookout 
or Orchard Knob, becomes, if possible, plainer as you ride the 
ridge from Rossville north and read the tablets, planted by the 
roadside, making clear explanations of the parts taken by the 
several commands in winning and losing this formidable summit. 
A tower stands where Bragg had his headquarters and near by 
is the dead cedar twenty feet high, protected by a wire screen, 
to which his horse was hitched during the engagement. In "the 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 143 

battle above the clouds," November 24. and in the storming of 
Mission Ridge on the 25th. was the evening up of the Chickamau- 
ga defeat, and the laurelling of American valor comes in the Park 
and the Mission Ridge roadway and their monuments and tab- 
lets, together with the one hundred acres of Hooker's field on 
Lookout mountain already bought and to be parked by the gov- 
ernment. 

Coming down from the northern part of the Ridge at sun-set 
and taking in Orchard Knob, Grant's headquarters, on the way 
in, we stepped into the Read House at dusk, tired, but filled 
with new lights on old pictures. It has been a day never to be 
forgotten, signalized by a strange commingling of the old and 
new, of memories and present facts. Of the great armies that 
fought these battles, comparatively few can ever go over these 
fields again after thirty-four years and still fewer soldiers can fol- 
low the old battle trail from beginning to ending, as I am doing, 
a generation after the war. 



144 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Chattanooga, May 21, 1897. 

While at Crawfish Springs yesterday, I told General Boyn- 
ton that we intended leaving for Kenesaw this morning, but that 
was on the information that the train left this city at 6 :30 a.m. 
When we found that the time was 5 :30 a. m. and that the Read 
House could not give us breakfast so early and when we consid- 
ered the hard day's work yesterday we gave up the early train 
and while Mrs. H. rested I went with A. Z. Converse, a Madison 
county boy of the Fortieth O. V. I., driving through the National 
Cemetery, wdiere thirteen thousand heroes sleep and where the 
most interesting spot noted was that where the Andrews raiders, 
who were executed by the confederate authorities at Atlanta, are 
buried, with the graceful and durable monument at their feet, 
erected by the State of Ohio. I have read Pittenger's story twice ; 
knew him personally just after the war and am looking forward 
with interest to the forthcoming book of Alf. Wilson, another of 
the survivors of that daring exploit. 

No confederate soldier's body is allowed to rest "on fame's 
eternal camping ground," within these cemeteries. They have 
their own separate "camping grounds." 

During the ride Mr. Converse and I succeeded in locating 
the camp of my regiment within the lines on the night of Septem- 
ber 23d, 1863. It was within the space now bounded by McCau- 
ley and Eighth and Douglas and B streets. It was here on the 
morning of the 24th, as day was breaking, that I walked along 
the lines of our guns, which had been stacked about midnight, 
and within a short distance of the left stack found the grave of my 
friend, "Samuel C. Brown, Major Sixty-fifth O. V. I., wounded 
20th and died 22d September, 1863." I had not heard of, or 
from, him since 1859, when I visited him at his father's home in 
Guernsey county, immediately after my graduation. To find 
this location when the city had spread over it, streets been opened, 
houses built, grading done, and all that, was more than I had 
supposed the wnt of man, or men, could accomplish ; but with my 
description of the lay of the land, the suburban position, the diff- 
erent slopes immediately about the camp, the distance from, 
and the direction of, the inner line of works, the course and dis- 



Camps and Battle-fields Rexislied. Ho 

tance to the end of the pontoon over the Tennessee by which we 
crossed the next day to go up to Caldwell's ford and then to the 
mouth of North Chickamauga creek, we succeeded ; but above all 
was the identification rendered complete and certain by our find- 
ing, still standing, two or three of the apple trees, "old and worn 
and wan," which made the orchard that I had described to Mr. 
Converse before we left the hotel. Major Brown's grave was in 
the southern edge of such orchard and when we found the trees 
every condition which I had described was filled and not a 
shadow of doubt remained as to the place. Captain E. L. Ander- 
son and Mr. Converse had made search last year, but failed to 
find the brigade's position, because Anderson, being on the brig- 
ade staff, had not noted local particulars as I had done and had 
no such incident as the Brown death and grave to impress the 
situation and the location on his mind. 

Mr. Converse came here from Ohio some four or five years 
ago on account of his health and took up the study of the battle- 
fields with a view to serving as a guide for visitors and tourists. 
He is already very conversant with the history and smaller de- 
tails of the campaigns in these localities and is adding daily to 
his stock of information and his usefulness in his chosen occupa- 
tion. I had engaged carriage and driver for the purpose of go- 
ing through the National Cemetery and was talking with the 
liveryman in the Read House while waiting for the rig when I 
happened to say I should be willing to pay a good fee to the man 
who could point out our camp within the lines on the night of the 
23d of September and then I told him the story of Sam. Brown's 
grave, which was the special matter giving the camp an interest 
to my mind. Instantly, he said : "I think I can find the man 
you want. If anybody can help you find the place he can." The 
man was Mr. Converse, a native of Madison County and related 
to the families of that name living in Madison and Franklin. 
After going over the story, recalling the points which are enu- 
merated above, Mr. Converse said: 'T think I can find the 
place." I left the driver and took in Mr. C, with the result which 
I have already stated. It seemed to me beyond possibility that 
anv man or men could find the position after all the changes, hut 
that we identified the ground is beyond all cavil. 



146 FiFTV-SECOXD C). \'. I. 

As already stated. Colonel James Watson of Columbus was 
of the 40th O. A'. I. and was the original Captain of Mr. Con- 
verse's company therein, while my friend. Judge Matthew P. 
Simpson of McPherson, Kansas, was its efficient Sergeant Major. 

With the feeling that we have accomplished a good deal in 
the way of work and observation in the short time we have been 
able to devote to the review of the fields about this "Gate City" 
of the south, we shall pull out for the Kenesaw fields at 2 :30 this 
afternoon. 

Meanwhile, I jot down a few items from memory and memo- 
randa which may help to make the record a little fuller and a lit- 
tle clearer. The leading facts in our campaigning down to the 
close of Chickamauga battle have been given, but there are the 
time and events from the close of September, 1863, to the 3d of 
J\Iay, 1864, which appear in merely fragmentary form. 

General Boynton stated a fact to me this morning which I 
had never heard before and that was that as our brigade was 
marching, by the rear, up Cloud's hill on the afternoon of Sep- 
tember 20, 1863, it was mistaken by officers about the Snod- 
grass house for a brigade of confederates and one of our batteries 
in the field just below the Snodgrass house was ordered to open 
on us with shell. The captain of the battery had so much doubt 
about the identity of the troops that while he obeyed the order 
to fire on us he fired solid shot — three of them. only. Of course, 
as soon as we halted, about faced and our battery opened, the 
Snodgrass people saw their mistake and from that time until 
nightfall their hands were too full of fight in their own front to 
have looked after us. if we had been confederates. 

Anotlicr fact struck me with a good deal of force. This is 
disclosed by the tablets in that vicinity. While we were on 
Cloud's hill, say three thousand strong, in our front, within ten 
minutes march of us, were seven thousand of the enemy under 
General Pegram. All they had to do was to spread their wings 
and move forward. It would not have been child's play for them. 
l)ut in the open field their numbers would have out-flanked and 
overpowered us. It seems they did not know our numbers and 
so effective was the service, of Barnett's battery that they felt a 
little "shy" of us. Our ignorance of the peril in our immediate 



Camps and LJatti.k-kiklds Ri-:\"isiiEn. 147 

front, gave us, too. a useful confidence in our position and our- 
selves. 

The couplet was nut quite applicable. 

"Where ignorance is bliss, 
'Tis folly to be wise." 

In a letter fom North Chickamauga to my father, October 
14, 1863, the political situation was thus sized up by myself. Be- 
fore I make that quotation, however, let me say I have made but 
one political speech in all my life and that was to the 52d O. \'. I. 
on the north bank of the Tennessee river, in full sight of the rebel 
pickets, if not in their hearing, on the eve of the election referred 
to in the quotation. 

"Election day here was just what it used to be in Ohio, wet and 
sloppy from morning till night. This regiment polled three hundred 
and fifty votes. Out of that number Vallandigham received eleven. 
Soldiers standing on the bank of the Tennessee cannot see how the ap- 
plication of Vallandigham's policy to themselves and his advice to rebels 
could preserve the constitution from dishonor or bring either a restored 
Union or an honorable peace. He would have us cease fighting. Does 
he ask our friends, the grey backs, just over the river, to lay down their 
arms? Not much. 

We see the result of such a policy and such advice in this shape; 
terms of peace dictated by traitors on the banks of tlie Ohio, or the 
whole ground to be fought over again. 

We earn our footholds by too many hardships to follow sucli lead- 
ership. This unanimous opposition has not been so much against the 
principles generally proposed as his platform as against the man. He 
was ill chosen. 

I have said enough hitherto on this suljject. You know liow I feel 
towards Vallandigham and his career. 

The die has been cast and if those, who have friends in tlie army, 
whom they wish to bring speedily home, could only have seen and heard 
what I have, right here, they would never have cast a vote for the sub- 
ject of Order 38. 

Men in arms against us and others, wlio have thrown down their 
arms, with their own tongues have told us their leaders are holding the 
army together by saying to the men, 'Endure until Vallandigham is 
elected and we can fall upon a distracted and divided army and crush it. 
Hold out and the Yanks will soon fight among themselves.' An intel- 
ligent confederate said in our brigade the other day, 'Their greatest 
hope now is the election of \^allandigham.' Defeat him and they lose 
their whole cause." 



148 FlFTY-SECOXD O. \'. I. 

The same letter proceeds with a forgotten item — i. e., I 
had forgotten it — of army news. 

"I listened on the 9th to a considerable battle between Longstreet's 
men and the Georgians near Rossville. Bragg wanted the Georgia 
militia to move up nearer Chattanooga. They had volunteered to de- 
fend Georgia soil and said, 'By G— d, sir, we have come to the line, but 
will not leave the state.' Bragg said. Then, by G — d, I'll make you do 
it.' He ordered some of the Longstreet men to open on them and they 
replied. They fought with artillery as well as musketry. The firing was 
very distinct here. It lasted about three hours when night put an end 
to the fight and they agreed to let the Georgians alone. At least we 
gather so from the fact that they are still in Georgia." 

How much was truth and how much fiction I never figured 
out. We listened to the firing, the alleged reasons and results 
were hearsay. 

In connection with the journal entries, the short Wauhatchie 

campaign is succinctly and sufficiently explained in the following 

extracts : 

"Headouarter.s Fiftv-Second O. V. I., 

Chickamaug.x Creek, Tenn., Nov. 8, 1863. 

Dear Sister: 

Thursday, October 29th. On that day we moved down this side of 
the river to Brown's ferry, two miles below the city, perhaps it is nearer 
four miles by the river. 

The Tennessee here turns in its course due west. Two miles below 
Chattanooga on the south side of the river is the famous Lookout Moun- 
tain. It is about thirty miles long running right back from the river 
and to one. who would ascend in a balloon over its centre, it would as- 
sume the shape of a common smoothing iron, the sharp point so close 
to the river that a railroad track had to be blown out of the rocks before 
the cars could pass along the bank. I do not know its exact height, but 
should put it between three thousand and four thousand feet. Upon the 
highest point of the whole mountain, right above the water of the Ten- 
nessee, the rebels have from three to ten guns while their troops hold 
both slopes. On Monday night, October 26th, our forces threw a pon- 
toon across at Brown's ferry in four hours and routed the rebels from 
the range of hills on the other side of the river. This pontoon is two 
miles in a bee line from the top of Lookout. They have thrown shells 
within sixty yards of the bridge from their lofty position, but have done 
no damage. 

Well, we camped after crossing and lay in the rain until Friday, 30th, 
when we were ordered to report to General Hooker's headquarters, two 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 149 

miles up Lookout valley. Lookout creek runs along the foot of the 
mountain and on the olher side of the creek from the mountain is a range 
of hills, rather a succession of mounds, for every eighty or one hun- 
dred rods there is a gap through which some wagon road or little stream 
passes. 

In the dark, with the rain pouring down, we were put^into one of 
those gorges to hold it against any attempt of the enemy to burst 
through. 

It was the hardest night's soldiering I ever saw; everything soaking 
wet and orders to build no fares. 

Saturday evening we moved a mile up to another gap and here the 
62d lay under fire of the enemy's guns three days. In that time, the 
rebels threw four hundred and five shells over and around and among 
us. One twenty-four pound shell burst in the regiment, but no man was 
hit; others passed through it just grazing men but doing no damage and 
now and then one would burst over us when you might stand and pieces 
of iron and brass would whiz by your ears and drop among the leaves 
on all sides and you would wonder that no one was hit. 

I picked up the piece that fell to the ground closest to me on Mon- 
day. It was about four feet from my left foot. It is a brass tap, screwed 
into the end of the shell and holds the fuse. It weighs about twenty-six 
ounces. 

On Thursday they let us enjoy quiet and Friday we returned to 
Chickamauga. One man of Co. K deserted from picket to the enemy. 
I suppose he thought he would rather be up behind the big guns than 
under their mouths. I think myself it would have made any one feel as 
comfortable so far as personal safety was concerned, but I think he 
would not have been hurt very badly had he staid with his regiment. On 
Wednesday night, November 3d, the rebels burned two lines of breast 
works they had built down the side of the mountain. It was the grandest 
thing I have seen in the army. They looked like two long serpents 
stretched at ease on the mountain side. They were Aery serpents. 

Our distance from the battery was one and three-fourths miles, cal- 
culated by the sound. You would see the smoke and might count the 
seconds one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight then would come the 
report and by the time a man could drop flat to the ground the bomb 
would go hurtling past. It was unpleasant to sufifer all their impudence 
in firing at their leisure and not being able to return the compliment. 
Our forces did not reply until Wednesday evening when they sent twelve 
or fifteen shots from Chattanooga up on top of the mountain. Long- 
range cannon shot are not often very destructive; for this reason the 52d 
came back all safe and for this reason a dififerent disposition of forces 
here will have to be made before either army can be driven from this 
part of Tennessee. 



150 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

I'll stop writing now, only saying I suppose those who sleep in warm 
houses wouldn't feel very well to put on a soldier's accoutrements and 
lie outdoors in the rain and night air eight days and nights, with a sim- 
ple blanket for covering and an oil cloth for a bed, living on half rations 
of dry crackers in the meantime. 

No, it would soon kill many, if they did not do like Charley Bark- 
hurst said Ellen must do with his drinking, 'Get used to it' first. I have 
slept in the rain and felt as fresh as though in feathers under roof." 

Three or four documents and letters will throw some addi- 
tional light on what we called the Knoxville campaign, which 
immediately followed the storming of Mission Ridge. Before 
adopting them into this chapter, it may be stated that just prior 
to that battle a regular, competitive, written examination of ser- 
geants of the regiment was held for the purpose of determining 
the seven who should go to Ohio on recruiting service. Two 
corporals and two privates also took the examination. I framed 
the thirty questions submitted and there were twenty-one com- 
petitors. I have the examination papers, questions and answers, 
of the entire class still in my possession, as well as the figures and 
markings of the committee of officers who passed upon the ques- 
tions of standing. The successful candidates were not permitted 
to go north until after Mission Ridge and until we were in the 
vicinity of Charleston on the Knoxville march on the 1st of De- 
cember. 

When we were within a few miles of the beleaguered city of 
Knoxville General Longstreet took his departure and we turned 
back toward Chattanooga. Soon after doing so we stopped on 
Conesauga creek and assumed the temporary control of Mr. 
Gouldy"s mill. A. R. was one of the recruiting sergeants. A 
letter to him in Ohio after our return from the campaign con- 
tains a brief account of our doings. 

■'Headquarters Fiftv-Second O. V. I., 

Chickamauga Creek, Tenn., Dec. 25, 1863. 
Dear Brother: 

Your letter has just been read and I hasten to reply. December 1st 
you left the regiment and at 9 o'clock we crossed the Hia>vassee river 
at Charleston and Calhoun and camped some twelve miles up towards 
Loudon in the evening. 

Evening of the 3d, camped within two miles of Loudon. 

Morning of the 4th, we passed through the place and at 3 o'clock p. 
ni. I met in our camp on the bank of the Little Tennessee, opposite Mor- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revlsited. 151 

ganville, Will. McElravy. I had two hours talk with him and didn't see 
him again. 

On the tith. we crossed to Morganville and pushed on to within fif- 
teen miles of Knoxville when the intelligence came that the bird, Long- 
street, had flown. We countermarched, recrossed the river a'ld on the 
evening of the 8th, having passed through Madisonville on the 7th, we, 
the 52d O. V. I., stopped by order on Conesauga creek at Gouldy's Mills, 
hve miles above Columbtis, Tennessee, to run said mills, grinding corn 
and wheat for the brigade and division. The boys lived fat here for 
seven days, but worked like Turks all the time, hauling, shelling, guard- 
ing and grinding and gobbling bushwhackers. 

On the 11th, I sent Lieutenant Miser and Joe. Swan out for some 
shoes for the barefooted fellows and three miles from camp they, with 
four horses, were captured by a rebel lieutenant named Kimbrough. 
Dave was riding the Colonel's horse, Joe the black, and Benton and the 
doctor's darkey were riding two pack horses. 

Kimbrough had six men with him and took them by surprise when 
dismounted and in a house. 

The two darkies got away and brought me word of the capture. On 
the 14th, having sent out scouting parties for two days previously, I sent 
Captain Bucke and thirty-six men nine miles up t'ne creek to Kim- 
brough's father's and at dusk he brought the old man in as hostage for 
Dave and Joe. The lieutenant, with his squad, had been cut off from his 
r«.giment, 19th Tennessee, when our forces swept up through the coun- 
try and he was skulking among the Chilhowie mountains and the knobs 
on his father's plantation, pouncing on our stragglers where he could 
see them out alone or by twos. On the same day he c iptured Joe. and 
Dave, he had taken and paroled two of Co. C, releasing them in a-.i hour 
or two. I put them into the ranks and ordered the lost guns and equip- 
ments to be charged to them. 

Well, I didn't have old Kimbrough a prisoner lialf an hour till 
Joe. Swan came into camp, the bearer of dispatches from the son pro- 
posing to release my men if I'd release his father. 

I rode nine miles to meet the gentleman that night, but Joe. could 
not find his camp. I left Joe. to tell him to come in in tlie morning 
under a flag of truce. 

We marched for Charleston early in the morning and I left Captain 
Bucke and Co. A, with instructions to demand the two men and two 
horses for the father and two confederate horses that I had captured the 
day before. After we were gone, the lieutenant came to the mills and 
although it was like taking his heart out he came to my terms and Cap- 
tain Bucke, Dave, Joe., Co. A and the two horses joined us as we were 
going into camp on the evening of the 18th, just where, you will remem- 
ber, we formed the first line of battle so prettily from column liy com- 
pany, the left resting out in a cleared field, the morning wc started after 
Bragg. 



153 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

On the night of the 19th, crossing in a ferry at Chattanooga, we 
reached the old camp by boat loads." 

The parole given to Bowers by Kimbroiigh was in these 
words and figures, lifcrally: 

"I, Charles H. Bowers, a private of Company C, S2d Ohio Regi- 
ment, and taken prisoner in McMinn County, Tenn., by the Confeder- 
ate State's troops on the 11th day of December, 1863, do give this my 
parole of honor, and solemnly sware that I will not bare armes; do any 
kind of duty or otherwise assist the U. S. in warring against the Con- 
federate States of America until duely exchanged and officially notified 
of the same, so help me God. C. H. Bowers. 

Sworn and subscribed to before me this the 11th day of December, 

1868. J. A. KiMBROUGH, 

First Lieutenant Co. H, 19th Tennessee Regiment; 
Acting Prov. Matial, Dept. E. Tenn." 

Tlie pencil communication which he sent to me when he 
learned that I had captured his father is in these terms : 

"Headquarters Camp Secret, Nov. 14, 1863. 
Major J. T. Holmes, Commanding 52d Ohio Regiment: 

I received intelligence of the arrest of my father, D. W. Kimbrough, 
but a few minutes since, and demanding for his reliece, two prisoners 
whom I have in my possession. I will reliece them both as soon as my 
father is relieced and returned to his home. I will hold every thing else 
as contraband of war, &c. Very respectfully, 

J. A. Kimbrough, 
First Lieutenant Co. H, 19th Tenn. Regt., Com'dg, &c." 

The officer was evidently somewhat disturbed when, as far 
along- as the middle of December, he wrote "Nov. 14," as the date 
of his proposal for peace between us. 

Kimbrough was permitted to retain nothing that he had cap- 
tured except three pistols, among them my fine Smith and Wes- 
son, which I had owncil from the early part of 1860. The horses 
were all very much jaded and worn when surrendered. The 
rebels had lidden them hard up and down the rough mountain 
roads and byways during the few days they held them. The doc- 
tor's ho'-si; never wholly recovered from the abuse. 

Mr. Gouldy had two fine gray horses. One day a cavalry- 
man entered his barn and led away one of them. Fearing that 
the other would be taken from him, in like manner, he offered to 



Camps and Battle-fields Rexislted. 153 

sell liii'i to me and I counted him out his price in greenbacks and 
took the horse. 

From the tinie i began to ride him. the Kentuckian which I 
had purchased in Nasliville in May preceding showed signs of in- 
tense jealousy. It was almost human in its intelligence. He 
never became really reconciled to the gray and four months 
later, at his first fair opportunity, in their shed at McAfee, kicked 
him nearly t(; death. It was this gray that I stopped to inquire 
after at Lee and Gordon's mills yesterday. 

vSpeaking of my horses reminds me that while we lay at 
North Chickamauga, through October and the greater part of 
November, 1863, the food for man and beast was exceedingly 
scarce. The enem.y were practically camped on our cracker line 
and the rations and allowances were about one-third the usual 
amount. Men were hungry most of the time, but never were in 
better health. To protect the little heap of corn for my horses, it 
was necessary to mount the headquarters guard over it, specially, 
everv night. Otherwise, it would have been gone before day- 
light. After the blockade was broken and army supplies of all 
kinds came through to us the men used to tell me and laugh 
about their reconciling their scruples of conscience by never 
carrviiig away more than two ears at a time, and that was when 
relieved at the end of the two hours' watch. The guard permit- 
ted no one else to touch it, but as he was relieved he took the 
limited toll. So ihat I found the post of headquarters guard had 
been much coveted. The boys parched the corn and ate it. 

Before leaving the mills, I gave Mr. Gouldy a receipt of 
Avhich the following is a copy : 

"Headquarters Gouldy's Mills. Dec. 14, 1863. 

Received of John A. Gouldy two good, serviceable mules, valued at 
ninety ($90) dollars each for the use of the government. 

J. T. Holmes, Major 52d O. V. I." 

He preferred to sell the mules, in this way. to having them 
taken from him by irresponsible characters and so losing their 
value. Some years after the close of the war, the Treasury De- 
partment, at Washington, corresponded with me to make sure of 
the authenticity of the transaction and the receipt and on the 
strength of my letter, I have no doubt. Mr. Gouldy was duly paid 



154 I'^IFTV-SECOM) (). \'. I. 

for his vahiablc iniiifs. They made a very fine team, but I lost 
sight of them, in the train, soon after we left the mills. 

The night \vc eritered Chattanooga on the return from the 
Knoxville campaign my good friend. Major Hanna, GOth O. V. 
L, found me before ne crossed the river to go up to North Chick- 
amauga and taking me to their comfortable headcjuarters fur- 
nished a supper — 1 fee! even now like saying — the most appetiz- 
ing of my life. I remember reading in Greek at college that 
"hunger was the best sauce" and no doubt it was the "sauce" 
which added the everlasting fragrance to the memory of that 
meal. I had recovered my healtli and strength and the short 
conunons of that campaign had given me "an appetite like a saw- 
mill." 

As the men were set across the river, they broke up tlie road 
along its bank, singly and in squads, without order or organiza- 
tion, for their camp and made the midnight arches ring for more 
than an hot'r as they went stringing into their quarters. 

Fron.i a time back to which the memory does not run with 
distinctness, each American has learned and will for many gen- 
erations continue to learn the lesson of A'alley Forge, during the 
war of the Revolution, where the necessities of the patriot sol- 
diers showed the frozen ground marked by their bleeding feet. 
We saw that thing repeated on the return march from Knoxville. 
Shoes were worn out ; supplies ^^ere inaccessible ; the men must 
march, out of those motmtain regions. A single instance will 
illustrate. John McLaughlin of Co. B was a rugged, rosy 
cheeked, faithful young soldier. It was about a week before 
Christmas ; we were coming down through the gaps which lead 
to the lower lands, 1 think it was near McDaniel's ; the ground 
was frozen and a slight snow had fallen. McLaughlin was trudg- 
ing alongside of my horse one day when I happened to note the 
fact that his shoes were nearly all gone. The next glance showed 
a little spot of blood on the frozen, snowy roadway left after 
each step. I talked with him about the hardships of the way ; he 
was bright and cheery. There were many weary miles still be- 
tween him and Chattanooga, but he entered the city with the regi- 
ment. When approaching middle life, he was driven by rheu- 
matism to apply for a pension and twenty-five years after that 



Cami>s and Battle-ffei.ds Re\isited. 155 

march tlie pension bureau sent me an inquiry, in his case, about 
the march and its character, apparently incredulous as to some 
of the statements on file with his claim with reference to the ex- 
periences of the applicant and others. I was able to make a 
statement of facts, from personal observation, corroborative of the 
claimant's representations. 

Some of the men made rude moccasins from the raw beef 
hides, as the cattle were butcliered for meat supplies, binding 
them to their feet with the hair inside. The wags said it was "A 
time that tried men's soles." The statement was true in more 
senses than one. 

My ofificial report of this campaign is printed in War Rec- 
ords, Vol. 55, pp. 505-507. 

'"Headqu.vrters Fifty-Second Ohio Volunteers, 

Chickamauga Creek, Tenn., Dec. 19, 1863. 

Sir: I have the honor to make the following report of the part 
taken by this command in the operations in front of Chattanooga, and 
on the march toward Knoxville and back to Chickamauga creek: 

November 24th, under orders, moved with the brigade at daylight 
to Caldwell's Ford. At 1 p. m. crossed the pontoon bridge and formed 
line of battle in front of the first range of rifle-pits. At dusk moved 
about one-half the distance toward Mission Ridge, then occupied by the 
forces of General. Sherman. Here we lay in line until daylight. 

November 25th, early in the morning, moved to the foot of Mis- 
sion Ridge, marching by the right of companies. This position we oc- 
cupied while the battle raged at Tunnel Hill, immediately in front of our 
right and along the greater portion of the ridge. Now and then a shell 
would pass in the vicinity of the regiment, but no one was touched by 
the missiles. 

November 2(ith. at 1 a. m., moved down and crossed at the mouth 
of Chickamauga river and camped until daylight some distance above 
the last position, upon the opposite bank of the stream. After daylight 
moved up the valley in pursuit of the routed and fleeing enemy, who oc- 
casionally, by a few shots, attempted to resist the troops in advance, we 
having formed line of battle four distinct times during the progress of 
the day, and with the other regiments of the brigade been held well in 
hand. About an hour before nightfall, at Shepherd's Run, the vanguard 
being attacked by the rebel rear guard, a brisk firing commenced a short 
distance in front. This command was, at the time, marching by the 
right flank and in rear of the Eighty-sixth Illinois. It was also the rear 
of the brigade. Soon after the fighting commenced, a stafi officer, whom 
I have not since been able to recognize, galloping up, said, 'Depkiy your 



156 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

men in there,' pointing to the right among the brush. I replied, "Mine 
is the rear regiment of this brigade, and there is my place,' pointing 
to the left of the Eighty-sixth, then marching forward into line. 'Well,' 
said he, 'You'd better,' and off he dashed. Bayonets were fixed and I 
ordered the regiment forward into line. While moving on dotible-quick 
through thick brush, and over logs, fences, and the scarcely fordable 
stream, it passed with a shout to its place on the left of the Eighty-sixth 
Illinois. Fighting soon ceased on our right, and we camped for the 
night just where we stood in line. 

On 27th, early in the morning, I was ordered to send Captain 
Bucke and two skirmish companies to report to the Colonel command- 
ing. I detailed Companies A and B, and sent them in command of the 
ofhcer mentioned. They returned to the regiment at dusk, having 
skirmished with the enemy from Shepherd's Run to Ringgold, near 
which place the regiment encamped for the night. 

On 28th, moved past Parker's Gap about a mile and remained un- 
til 29th; moved through McDaniel's Gap, camped near cleared land. 

On 30th, encamped in the evening near Charleston. 

December 1st, crossed the Hiawassee, and moving day after day, 
excepting one day, during which we rested on the left bank of the Little 
Tennessee, and, having crossed it and five miles above the crossing coun- 
termarched, we reached Gouldy's Mills, five miles from Columbus, on 
the 8th, where this regiment remained, grinding corn and wheat for the 
brigade and gathering in bushwhackers, until 15th. 

On the 11th, a rebel lieutenant named Kimbrough, with six men, 
captured one officer and one private of this regiment, together with four 
horses. D. W. Kimbrough, father of the rebel lieutenant, was arrested 
and held as a hostage for the safety of the officer and private captured. 

December 15th, the regiment left Gouldy's Mills, and, after steady 
marching, reached Chickamauga creek in the night, December 18th. By 
permission of the Colonel commanding, Company A was left behind at 
the mills on the morning of the 15th, with Captain Bucke, to complete 
negotiations for the exchange of D. W. Kimbrough for the men his 
son had captured. The exchange was completed, and Company A 
joined the regiment this side of McDaniel's Gap. 

We have had no man killed or wounded, but have lost, since No- 
vember 24th, four; were last seen near Charleston, one at Gouldy's ]\Iills, 
one at McDaniel's Gap, one near Cleveland. 

No words of mine could fully express the merits of the officers and 
men of this command since the 20th of November. If there were an 
adjective in the language grander in its force of qualification than 
'heroic,' then that adjective ought to qualify the word 'endurance' as 
applied to these officers and soldiers. As great a trial as the campaign 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 157 

has been to the bodies and souls of these men, each one esteems his ex- 
perience in it as invaluable. Respectfully submitted, 

J. T. Holmes, 
Major, Commanding Regiment. 
Captain E. L. Anderson, 

Acting Assistant Adjutant-General." 

The regiment left North Chickamauga and marched via 
Chattanooga to McAfee's on the 2Gth of December, 1863. I re- 
mained at Caldwell's ford on cotirt-martial duty and followed it 
three days later. For a considerable time forage was very short. 
I remeinber my horses were hitched a part of the time in a sort 
of oak thicket behind headquarters tents. They fed olT the small 
limbs or branches of the little trees and w^ere moved about from 
time to time to give them fresh timber. There was one period of 
eight days in which I had but three ears of corn for two horses, 
no hay, no straw. I shelled and fed the corn to them out of my 
own hand in very small allowances through those days. At each 
meal, I spared from the table, which was scantily supplied, from 
one to three of the smaller crackers for each horse and, as with 
the shelled corn, fed them myself. It w^as close living, but the 
stock had not been injured by it when the pressure was finally 
relieved. 

Immediately upon arrival at McAfee, the men began build- 
ing regular quarters such as they had left at North Chickamauga. 
Each company in place of tents constructed a row of log cabins — 
say a half dozen or more to a company. The weather was cold, 
raw, rainy and disagreeable, but in a short time the boys were 
housed and as comfortable as the early settlers of the country, 
and, excepting the outings, they occupied these quarters until 
the 6th of March following, when the regiinent moved to Lee and 
Gordon's mills. The church is about a mile and a half out the 
Ringgold road from Rossville, almost due east, and the camp 
was a quarter of a mile beyond the church and on the north side 
of the road, in the edge of a wood, with an open field in the rear. 
Regimental officers lived in their wall tents. 

We had itianoeuvered over the roads and hills at that point 
during the battle of Chickamauga, so that it was not entirely new 
ground to us. Nashville had afforded us a taste of garrison life 
and duties ; McAfee was strictly country camping. Chattanooga 



158 FrFTv-SECOxn O. V. I. 

was too far away to furnish much temptation to the men to leave 
their brigade, or regimental, village. Rations were not very 
plentiful for the first few days, but the living was not so scanty 
as it had been at the Chickamauga camp and soon there came in 
occasional luxuries with the usual supply of government rations, 
though the supply of forage was short most of the time through 
the winter. Tlie enemy never afterward pressed so hard on our 
line of supplies as at Chattanooga. 

We had been at Chickamauga station a week when I was 
called back to the camp by the death of Dr. Arthur J. Rosa, our 
assistant surgeon. He had been left in charge of the few men 
who were sick and because he was, himself, sufifering with neu- 
ralgia of the face when we moved out on the 14th of February. 
On the 20th, he was dead. He was always a cjuiet man. but it 
was noticed that no one ever criticised, or found fault with, his 
professional work. An incident occurred on the morning of 
January 28th, preceding, which had given his surgical capacity 
striking prominence. As the men were about to take arms and 
form in regimental line for the reconnoissance to Ringgold, a rifle 
was accidentally discharged, perhaps by the fall of a stack of 
guns, wounding a powerfully-built soldier of Co. A, I think it 
was, in the leg, necessitating amputation. The surgeons of the 
brigade gathered about the operating board on which the man 
was placed, when it was found that there was a good deal of eva- 
sion and "you do it" upon the putting of the question as to who 
should use the knife. Finally the senior surgeon in rank and 
position in the brigade, not an Ohio man. who was past middle 
life, accepted the position of operator. The preliminary prepa- 
ration was made and the knife was inserted in the poor fellow's 
flesh, withotit any slioiv of surgical skill. The first slash was a ner- 
vous blunder and the operator had to throw down the knife, he 
was shaking so badly. Watching everything with the keen eye 
of a master, the quiet assistant surgeon of the 52d stripped off his 
coat, rolled up his sleeves, and it was the testimony of witnesses 
that for steady nerve, accurate eye and speedy movement, the 
operation which he performed was a perfect success. He had 
outstripped all his brigade colleagues in those few minutes and,, 
almost before the regiment, which had moved on, was out of sight 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 159 

of the camp, was riding beside me with only monosyllabic 
answers to my references to the soldier's misfortune. A few days 
later, when his achievement had been talked about, and had come 
to my ears, I mentioned it to him and he gave me, in his modest 
way, a brief account of the incident. When he touched upon the 
"in honor preferring one another" phase of it, he showed a keen 
appreciation of the real reason for it by a contagious little laugh. 

The doctor was supposed to have been suffering from a 
paroxysm of neuralgic pain and accidentally to have taken an 
overdose of morphine to relieve it, some time in the night. He 
was found in his tent about eight o'clock on the morning of the 
20th, breathing sterterously and beyond relief. He died soon 
after his condition was discovered. 

On the 31st, as his military administrator, I took an inven- 
tory of his effects and a few days later they were nearly all care- 
fully packed and sent down to Chattanooga in care of John K. 
McKenzie of Co. K,who was acting clerk to the brigade surgeon, 
to be expressed to the doctor's sister at their home in Madison, 
Lake County, Ohio. The valuables, his gold watch and a gold 
ring among them, never reached their destination. The satchel 
containing them, when they left camp, had been broken open and 
rifled. His horse and heavier equipments were disposed of in the 
fitld. There was an apparent mystery about the loss of the valu- 
ables. 1 never had any moral doubt about what became of them. 
Nearly twenty years later, his sister. Miss Maria Rosa, corre- 
sponded with me in an efifort, which she had never wholly relaxed. 
to trace the missing jewels. I think it was fruitless. There was a 
se(ond reason for this later correspondence. Doctor Rosa's 
mother was an applicant for a pension and the Pension Bureau 
had suspended the claim on a suspicion, raised by the language 
of the record of his death, that the doctor had committed suicide. 
The suspicion was utterly groundless. I furnished the mother 
an afiidavit, detailing the full history of the facts and circum- 
stances preceding and attending his death. No known item of 
evidence pointed to suicide ; in fact, every item thereof pointed to 
an accidental overdose of morphine, taken to relieve intense pain. 
Whether the overdose — if his desth resulted from the morphine — 
was in the mistaken quantity, taken by him in the darkness, while 



160 FlFTY-Si;COND (). V. I. 

suffering, or in the effect of the ordinary quantity on his system 
in a pecuHar condition, can never be determined. He was sleep- 
ing alone in his tent at the time. The doctor was about thirty 
years of age when he died. 

As soon as the condition of the roads and fields would per- 
mit, in this interval of time, I began with the 53d a system of 
fancy drills. They were movements in the manual of arms and 
of troops in the field not found recorded in any book, strictly my 
ovv'n, designed to interest the oflticers and men and to add to their 
skill and efficiency in the regular, tactical movements prescribed 
by Hardee or Casey. The series was quite complete and the 53d 
became very expert in them, "the best drilled regiment in the 
division." 

On the 31st of March the Division was reviewed — Thomas 
and Granger and Davis, perhaps officers from other commands, 
were present — on a part of the Chickamauga field. After the re- 
view proper was closed Colonel McCook was anxious to exhibit 
the proficiency of the 53d in the new drill and he took command 
to show the Generals how it was done. He had kept an eye on 
the movements, but when he came to handle the boys his pro- 
ficiency in giving orders did not equal theirs in executing the 
orders, when correctly given. The result was a tangle and the 
Colonel turned the regiment over to me and his attention to 
something else. The episode was merely amusing. He was 
very anxious while we lay at Lee and Gordon's to have me write 
out in detail the whole of the new drill, so that he might send it on 
to the War Department, at Washington, but I never found the 
time and the days of fancy drills and all other kinds, for that mat- 
ter, were superseded, after the 1st of May, 18G1:, by the move- 
ments on marches and battlefields for which they were des'gned 
and practiced specially to qualify the soldiers. 

Between the time of the removal of the regiment to Lee and 
Gordon's mills and the 30th of that month I spent several days on 
court martial duty. 

"Camp at Rossville, Ga., March 30, 1864. 
I hereby certify on honor that Major J. T. Holmes of the 52d Ohio 
Regiment of Volunteer Infantry was in attendance as a member of the 
General Court Martial convened by order No. 6"2 (Special) of Brigadier 
General Jefif. C. Davis thirteen days. D.wid R. Waters, 

Captain 10th Illinois Infantry, Judge Advocate." 



Camps and Battle-fields Revlsited. IGl 

Our sessions were held in one of the rooms of a long, one- 
story, or a story and a half, frame, dwelling house, which was then 
General Davis' headquarters. 

I have strongly associated in mind with that service and the 
house and spring a well authenticated story of the General and a 
recruit in one of the Illinois regiments, who came to the command 
while it lay there. Naturally raw and unlearned in army eti- 
quette and withal simple minded and confiding, the recruit was 
easily imposed on. He had been in camp a few days and found it 
necessary to have some washing done. He inquired of his or- 
derly sergeant about the ways and means. The sergeant pointed 
to the General's headquarters with the assurance that there was a 
man there by the name of Davis who did the washing for the 
entire division, though he w^as apt to be crabbed and somewhat 
cross-grained w^hen one first spoke to him on the subject. "But 
you tell him you know it's his business and you insist upon his 
doing it. He'll give in at last." Accordingly the recruit rolled 
up his soiled woollen underwear and trudged over to Division 
headquarters. He was conducted to the General and made known 
his errand. Davis made a few kind inquiries into the matter, not 
omitting the name, rank, company and regiment of the man who 
had sent him. He told the soldier to sit down and wait and his 
washing would be attended to ; then he sent a guard for the hu- 
morous sergeant and after verifying the soldier's story delivered 
the underwear to the sergeant, had the guard conduct him to the 
fine, large spring just back of the hovise and stand over him while 
he did the washing and then carefully march him wath it back to 
his regiment and see it delivered to his innocent victim. 

While the general court martial was in session, I wrote a 
letter from which two extracts are as follows : 

"McAfee' .s Church, Ga., March 26, 18G4. 

Ill i^ ^ i^ :¥ *!(:*** 

" I little thought eighteen months ago that I would serve under a 
brigadier who had dared to shorten Nelson's days, but so it is. 

Jeff, is a small man with light hair and complexion, a large grey 
eye, and his every motion is characterized by an elastic, easy, wiry grace; 
free in speech, yet not copious to a degree that would flood his hearers; 
entertaining in conversation, an attentive listener, a jovial fellow, in 
short. I am told by those who have held conversations of length with 



16"3 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

him that he is glad to talk of his affair with Nelson, feeling conscien- 
tiously that he could have done nothing else than what he did under 
the circumstances. 

He gave evidence before our court martial yesterday evening. After 
he had gone I learned somewhat of his history. At the time of the 
Mexican War he, being about sixteen years of age, ran away from his 
parents and joined a company at Evansville, Indiana, his native state. 
His father and mother went to see him and told him they would cease to 
object to his volunteering if he would leave that company and go with 
a Captain from his own neighborhood. Jeff, told his captain what his 
father wanted and the captain said, "Go." He went and was known in 

the regiment through that war as Captain 's 'little sergeant.' 

While the war was in progress the congressman from his district se- 
cured him a cadetship at West Point, but he would not leave the field 
to take it and the place was declared vacant and another appointment 
made. The war over, Jeff, went home and his friends began to stir 
about the cadetship. 

Mr. Representative, fearing for his success in the next election (for 
he wanted to continue his seat in Congress), and desirous of securing 
the good will and co-operation of Davis' friends, used his influence ana' 
was successful in procuring for him the appointment of Second Lieu- 
tenant in the 12th United States Artillery. So Jeff, was a regular ofificer 
without having graduated at West Point. He was captain of artillery 
and in Fort Sumpter when rebellion first leveled and fired its guns at 
those devoted walls. He afterwards raised an Indiana regiment and in 
the battle of Pea Ridge won the brigadier's star. He now stands a cap- 
tain in the regular army and brigadier general of volunteers. I heard 
hirh talking the other evening about officers going home to marry. A. 
A. G. Wiseman of the First Brigade had gone home and taken a wife on 
the sly; that is, he didn't let any of his fellow officers know it when he 
came back. Jeff, was talking about it, 'Why,' said he, 'when I got mar- 
ried I let anybody and everybody know it that wanted to. I thought it 
was a big thing. Pea Ridge was considerable, but nothing by the side 
of getting a wife,' and then he laughed heartily. 

I promised to tell you some time about the sagacity of my horse" 
Charley. I bought my grey on Conesauga Creek, Tennessee, and 
thinking I would let Charley take matters 'easy' I rode the grey all the 
time afterward until we came to this camp. I paid no attention to 
Charley during about three weeks. One night after we came here I was 
coming past the horses and stopped to play with my favorite — as I had 
often done, for he was always very gentle to handle when from under 
the saddle. Lo! he whirled for fight. Thinking he did not recognize 
me in the dark, I spoke to him. It was no go. He was all fight and no 
terms. The next evening it was the same and neither kind words, 
threats, nor stripes would bring him back to his old good humor. I 



Cami'S and Battle-fields Revisited. 163 

ordered him saddled and rode him over to Rossville and back. 

Afterwards it was all right with me, but notwithstanding he would 
stand hitched in peace with any other horse at headquarters he refused 
to let the grey alone when he could reach him. I then rode them turn 
about until about two weeks ago. They had learned to stand quietly 
together, playing once in a while. Last Sunday I took the grey out and 
rode over the battlefield, leaving Charley here by himself. The next 
day he pressed close enough and kicked the poor grey unmercifully, 
bruising the stifle of the right hind leg to such an extent that the horse 
could not move. I went to the stable in the evening and found Charley 
standing as close to the other as he could squeeze. I slipped the halter 
strap to the far end of the stable and thought thus to prevent any more 
such work. When I rose in the morning, I looked out at the stable and 
found that he had worked the strap along the pole nearly the whole 
length of the stable, and kicked the poor cripple with his fore parts 
out of the stable, over a log two feet through, and there he was stand- 
ing again close up to his victim, with his head down looking as innocent 
as a sheep. I took a strap and while deliberately preparing it for use 
he took the hint, but I didn't let him of¥. After whipping him for the 
first time since I owned him, I do not think I ever saw any human eye 
gleam with more of the devil than did his. Strange as it may appear in 
an animal, jealousy has made him mad. I haven't gone near him since, 
yet he will neigh whenever I come in sight and I'm convinced he knows 
the plight he has put his comrade in. 

I expect to lose the grey. He may recover, but I doubt very much. 

Our court still progresses. A. R. is well and all is quiet in these 
parts." 

The incident suggested in the last entry of the journal at Mc- 
Afee was the outgrowth, in large measure, of too much whiskey 
and there came a day when it was very humbly apologized for. 
Its details would be without profit. Men did not leave behind 
them wholly all their Adamic traits when they became soldiers, 
and hypocrisy, pride, envy, jealousy, slander, heartburnings and 
the like occasionally found place and demonstration among them. 

The famous Dr. Mary E. Walker appeared at the mills while 
the brigade was stationed there. While we were still doing duty 
at Nashville the officers of the regiment clubbed together and^ 
bought thirteen silver pieces and the drums to arm and equip a 
band. The musicians were selected from, or rather, found in, the 
dififerent companies and it merely required them to become asso- 
ciates and accustomed to each other's work to produce a musical 
aggregation of no mean qualifications from tlie start. It gave us 



164 FlFTV-SliCOND O. V. I. 

a little trouble, in one way, almost from the date of its formation. 
There was an inclination to appropriate it as a brigade institution, 
none of the other regiments of the brigade having a band ; but our 
rights in the premises were not very greatly infringed. In fact, 
the powers that were, at no time really forgot that the instru- 
ments were private property and the band a 52d institution and 
so the drafts on it were made not by way of orders, but by way 
of suggestions and requests which it was not polite to disobey. 

It was the evening of her arrival that I received from Dr. 
Walker a pencil note, all of which is in the handwriting of Colonel 
Dan. except the signature : 
"Major: 

Will you be so kind as to send our band up this evening with the 
string instruments also. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Mary E. Walker, 
Major and Chief of Stafif. 

Major Holmes, Commanding .j:^d Ohio. 

Indorsed: O. B. M.^jor Holmes." 

Before we left the Mills Dr. Walker deliberately rode into the 
enemy's picket lines several miles from the camp on the east side 
of the creek and was captured. She dressed in men's clothing, 
except that her blue cloth coat was a little longer than regulation 
style for men ; it dropped down just below the knee. We may 
come to her or she may come to us later on in this chronicle. 

A long story, with its war incidents, is told in a few words. 
When I was five or six years old, a babe, whose mother had died, 
was, for some reason, brought to our house and cared for by my 
mother for a week or more. It was then taken away and I grew 
to manhood without further knowledge of its history, although 
the incident, so to speak, of the child's being brought into the 
house, remaining there and being taken away, was indelibly im- 
pressed on my mind. 

This letter will explain itself : 

"Headquarters Fiftv-Second O. V. I., 

Gordon's Mills, Ga., April 10, 1H64. 
Dear P'ather: 

After telling you we are both as well as usual, I must say the object 
of my writing this evening, although I have penned several missives 
lately, is to lell a story that has a sad ending. 



Ca:mps and Battle-fields Revisited. 165 

I cannot recollect whether I ever wrote you and mother or not the 
circumstances under which I discovered little Jim. Bond. 

I remember well when a babe he was brought to our house in 
Georgetown and also how much concern I felt for the little fellow when 
the man took him away. I had often in succeeding years thought of the 
child, but being away from those who knew of him was not certain what 
or where he was. 

The 52d had been in service some eight months when in Nashville, 
at retreat roll call one evening, the orderly sergeant of Co. B, the com- 
pany immediately on the left of Co. G, in calling his roll said, contrary I 
suppose to his usual custom, 'Jim. Bond.' 

'Here,' said a voice in the ranks and I began to think 'Jim- Bond,' 
'Jim. Bond, can it be possible that the little babe has been a soldier 
almost in my own company for eight months and I never recognized his 
name?' It was so. The orderly had always called him James Bond and 
might have called him so till this time probably without my recognizing 
the name. It was the 'Jim.' that first attracted my attention. 

I had a talk with him all about his past soon after I discovered him 
and found then, as ever since, notwithstanding the man who raised him 
was hard, often unreasonable in all his requirements at the hands of his 
bound boy, that Jimmy Bond was a kind-hearted, shrewd boy, a healthy, 
willing and joyous soldier. He has never been absent from his com- 
pany one day to my knowledge. 

This morning in company with two other boys of Co. B, he pro- 
cured a pass to go over the battlefield. He took a hatchet with him to 
bring in pieces of shells and about two miles out while working with and 
pounding an unexploded shell it burst, tearing his left arm off between 
the wrist and the elbow, rendering the limb a mass of shreds and blood 
to the shoulder. His eyes are blown out, it is thought by the surgeon. 
The face is terribly mutilated and swollen. The finger next the little 
one on the right hand had the bone next the hand so shattered that it 
bad to be opened and the bone taken out. 

I have seen pitiable sights often, but poor Jim. is the most so of any 
I ever saw. The heart ached at the sight. The shattered limb was 
taken ofif within an inch of the shoulder. His days of soldiering are 
over if he lives, a thing I think very doubtful. He will have good care 
if, for wise purposes, his days should not soon end. I shall not feel per- 
fectly easy until I hear you have thoroughly inspected those shells I sent 
home and found no powder in them. I thought there was none when I 
put them up. Let me know. 

I have no other news of note now. Your son, 

J. T. Holmes." 

Campino: two full months in the northern end of the Chicka- 
mauga battlefield and two full months in the southern end, with 
the business at McAfee and Rossville and in and out of Chatta- 



166 Fifty-second O. Y. I. 

nooga, made us quite familiar with the points of that famous fight- 
ing ground, especially between the Lafayette and the Dry Valley 
roads, but in those days the great interest lay rather in what was 
before than in what was behind us. The time to look backward 
either at the war, or at life, in the general sense, had not come to 
us. We were young men yet and the war was not two years old. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revlsited. 107 

Marietta, Georgia, May :^1, 1897. 

We left Chattanooga on time and had an agreeable run on 
■"the Battlefields' Line," as it is called, down through familiar 
towns and country. We stopped at Chickamauga Station, eleven 
miles out, to which point our brigade moved from McAfee's 
'Church, February 14, 1864, and where it remained in camp until 
the 22d of that month when it returned to McAfee. The first 
time we saw it was after the battle of Alission Ridge, on Novem- 
ber 26, preceding, while in pursuit of the retreating enemy. 

The next station is Graysville, six miles further down the 
road. It was here we overtook the rear guard and had the brisk 
set-to at dusk that day. Six miles further on we stopped at Ring- 
gold to which place the brigade marched on the reconnoissance, 
from McAfee's Church, January 28, 1864. This was our first ac- 
quaintance with the locality. In those days the name continually 
reminded me of Major Ringgold of Mexican war fame, one of my 
ideal soldiers, an accomplished and brilliant artillery officer, who 
had been killed in the battle of Palo Alto. 

We camped the night of the 28th of that January west of the 
town and south of the railroad track and on the next day returned 
to M^cAiee. 

On the 23d of the next month we marched a second time to 
Ringgold, moving by way of Graysville. It was on this march 
that I rode several miles with Colonel Harmon of the 125th Illi- 
nois, and we had one of those conversations where heart touches 
heart and where the fragrance of the time so spent remains when 
all the words and special subjects and forms of treatment have 
passed out of memory. The Colonel was one of nature's noble- 
men, a quiet, vigilant, effective officer, who never lost his head, 
whose patriotism was as unselfish and as little self-seeking as 
could be found anywhere, whose nature was kind and just toward 
all men. In person and manner he was after the type of his fel- 
low-citizen, Abraham Lincoln. He kept on in the line of duty 
until a later day in that year when we shall meet him again. 

The next day we marched from Ringgold through Tunnel 
Hill to Buzzard Roost, or Rocky Face Ridge, where we ran 
against the enemy's artillery. 'We spent the 2r)th and 26th mov- 



168 FiFTV-SECOXD O. \ . I. 

ing about from point to point in front of tlie Ridge an 1 when 
night came withdrew and camped at Ringgold. On the "iTth we 
returned to the church. 

Another time still we saw Ringgold and that was May 3. 
1864. We had been in camp at Lee and Gordon's Mills from 
March 6, preceding. On the morning of May 3, we marched 
away from the mills by the Ringgold road to begin the Atlanta 
campaign and that evening and next day — May 4 — were in camp 
in the same field where we had stopped on the former occasions. 

On the 5th of May we broke camp and passed through Ring- 
gold camping on the left side of the road beyond the gap through 
the ridge, not very far from the town, where we lay until the 
morning of the 7th. Troops were massing along this line for the 
new campaign. My notes show the post assigned me in its open- 
ing and the pithy instruction given by McCook on the evening of 
May Gth : "When you get 'em started, keep 'em on the hop." 
We moved out on the morning of the 7th and I had the honor of 
commanding the line that fired the first shot on the Atlanta cam- 
paign and we made the enemy use due diligence to get away from 
Tunnel Hill. I cannot take the time now to elaborate my old 
notes of this long campaign. I call it long for there was no day 
from the morning of May 7, 1864, until the morning of September 
2d, next following, that we were beyond reach of the enemy's 
guns. If a movement day or night withdrew us by some road, or 
wood, or field, beyond shot and shell, it was only for a little while 
and no twenty-four hours in that period of one hundred and 
eighteen days passed over our heads while we were entirely out of 
range. It was enough to try the nerves of the strongest and yet 
the boys seemingly grew careless and indifferent to the dangers. 

By the march through Snake Creek Gap, which lies several 
miles to the right of the railroad, going south, we struck Resaca 
as our next station on the railroad. It is twenty-three miles be- 
low Tunnel Hill. Dalton and Tilton, the intervening stations, we 
did not see on our first visit down through Georgia. To tell the 
truth, while we sent the good people some selections of iron and 
lead, we did not take the trouble to visit the station then, but 
made a detour by way of Rome where we had trouble with the 
enemy on the 17th and 18th of Alay. On the 25th, we were in 



Camps axd Battle-fields Revisited. 169 

the vicinity of Dallas and our operations were all on the right 
hand side of the railroad going south until June 11th, when we 
caught our first sight of Kenesaw. Here we operated near tlie 
railroad and in front of the mountain until the 25th of June, and 
the names of AUatoona, Ackworth and Big Shanty stations be- 
came very familiar. They are all in sight of the mountain, the 
last named station being nearest, within, I should say, two and a 
half, or three, miles. It is noted as the station from which the 
Andrews' Raiders, on April 12, 1862, steamed away with the train 
which they ran almost a hundred miles toward Chattanooga be- 
fore being forced by the vigorous pursuit to abandon it and take 
to the woods. It was one of tlie most thrilling episodes of the 
war. One-half of the raiders were executed and most of the 
others, if not all — five or six — are still living. An exact model of 
the engine which they captured — the General, as it was named — 
surmounts the Ohio Memorial at the graves of their dead in the 
National Cemetery at Chattanooga. It is bronze. 

It was the night of June 25, 1864, that our brigade was with- 
drawn from the line in front of Kenesaw and marched several 
miles to the right to the part of the line where our charge was 
made two days later, June 2/th. 

Leaving these movements, we return to our modern, unob- 
structed railroad train, known as the "Dixie Flyer," and run into 
Marietta at 6 :30 p. m. of this date. It is a quiet old town and 
there are men still living who made investments here wdien it was 
superior in every way to the little village of Atlanta, twenty miles 
below. From Big Shanty the railroad runs around the northeast 
end of the mountain and Marietta is about as far south as Big 
Shanty is north of the summit. We took up headquarters in 
room 1 of the Elmwood House, facing on a beautiful park, which 
makes the public square, perhaps two acres of ground, with wide 
streets on its sides. 

Inquiry shows that a part of my plan for visiting the lines 
cannot be carried out, at least, not in the way I had hoped it could 
be. 

It was my intention to drive to the top of Big Kenesaw and 
from it take a general observation of the field, but it turns out that 
there is no road to the summit and the last half mile is heroic 



170 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

climbing for a man, let alone a lady. I do not care to go alone 
for this climb and view and. therfore. we shall be content with the 
charging ground of June 27, 1864, and the views from the lower 
grounds. There is a National Cemetery at this city in which are 
buried fourteen thousand federal soldiers. A confederate ceme- 
tery has also been established at this point and the graves are be- 
ing marked as fast as the ladies can raise the money to purchase 
the headstones. Marietta has a population of about three thou- 
sand people ; is a dreamy, easy going, comfortable town, with 
some wealth — I do not mean large fortunes — and a general air of 
good, fair living, much like an Ohio town of such size, in these 
depressed times, financially speaking. 

There is time now to go back to May 3, 1861, and take up 
the more detailed memories, correspondence and reports showing 
the Atlanta campaign from Lee and Gordon's mills to Marietta, 
but there are two reasons which operate to induce a different 
course. The first one is quite simple. I am tired. The amount 
of work done since we left home has turned an excursion for 
recreation into labor as exacting as the uninterrupted trial of 
cases in open court ; indeed, if it were not for the pleasure there 
is in this kind of labor, the strain would be greater than law trials, 
because it consumes many more hours each day. The second 
reason is that an adherence to the rule applied to the campaign- 
ing down to Nashville and vicinity and then down to Chattanooga 
and vicinity will defer the bringing forward of those features that 
may be omitted until the close of the Atlanta campaign. I am 
not specially concerned about a system of writing, but there will 
be a sort of consistency in keeping to the general plan of review. 



Camps and BATTLE-Fii-:r,i)s Ricnisited. 171 

KENESAVV. cJUNE 27. 1864. 



At the annual reunion of the Fifty-Second Association, held at New 
Alexandria, Ohio, on the 20th of August, 1897, I delivered an address, 
which, as it embodies the next day's ''field notes," is given in full, as 
follows: 

My Comrades : 

In Conan Doyle's latest bcok. Uncle Bernac, he deals with 
Napoleon's proposed invasion of England in 1805. His hero, a 
young French refugee, crosses the channel to Boulogne and 
unites his fortunes with those of the Emperor, becoming a mem- 
ber of the court and, so, familiar with the great army of two hun- 
dred thousand officers and men there marshalled for the conquest, 
but destined never to set hostile feet on English soil. 

Long years afterward, when that armed host had melted 
away in the furnace heats of Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Eriedland, 
Eckmuhl, Essling, Wagram and Borodino and the remnant had 
nearly all perished amid the storms and snows and ice of the Rus- 
sian steppes ; when new generations of the French had again fur- 
nished successors and waded through the blood and carnage of 
Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipsic, Hanau, Ligny and Quatre 
Bras to the gloom and shroud of Waterloo; when the master 
spirit of those wonderful campaigns, broken and chafing against 
its prison bounds, the lone isle, through its last six years, had 
taken its eternal flight; when Monsieur Laval, stricken by the 
flight of time and with the infirmities of age, visits the camping 
grounds and the scenes of his early adventures by the French har- 
bor, and returns from the review, he is made to say : 

"Only last year I went back there under the strange impulse 
which leads the old to tread once more with dragging feet the 
same spots which have sounded to the crisp tread of their youth." 

I plead guilty to this so-called "strange impulse." It is 
creeping down toward forty years since we began to make camps 
and marches and battlefields and history, in one of the world's 
greatest epochs; it is almost an average lifetime since all these 
things were finished and fixed as the eternal years of the God of 
battles, and it would seem to me no more a "strange impulse" to 



172 F'iFTV-SECOND O. A'. I. 

cherish and long to visit one's childhood home, or to yearn for 
the sight of the tomb of child, or wife, or mother, or father, after 
long absence, or to see the faces and touch the hands of our truest 
associates and friends, when divergent paths and separate lots and 
lapsing years have neither broken, nor weakened the vibrant 
chords of enduring fellowship and confidence. It is not strange. 
For twenty years I have hoped to tread once more the same spots 
which echoed to the tread of our youth, to look upon the same 
hills and valleys, the same plains and mountains, the same fields 
and forests, the same creeks and rivers, the same roads and high- 
ways, the same cities and villages, the same sun and moon and 
stars, which, in that ''elder day," we saw, in our most memorable 
years, through the veil of disease and danger, wounds and death. 

I'll tell you why it is not strange. A recent writer comes 
close to my thought and I use his language, for the most part, 
dissenting, perhaps, from a very little of his doctrine, as it is ex- 
pressed : 

"It is with man as with nature. The chemistries of the soil 
and the sky are carried up into the plant, and are not lost but re- 
produced. The vegetable mold, with its forces and laws, is repro- 
duced in the animal kingdom. So the animal life is reproduced in 
man, and enthroned with reason. The human spirit is a reservoir 
of storages and reproductions. The personal present is simply 
the full expression of the past. What we are to-day is a recapitu- 
lation of what we have gone over and known. Why should we 
have memory? Why should we linger over the past? Why do 
we like to think of childhood joys and sorrows? Why do we 
cherish the simple days when we put our little faces between our 
mother's knees and cried our discontent into refreshment? Why 
do we linger in delight over the barefooted tramps, the journeys 
to kinsfolk, and the school-day sports? Because the whole of all 
that was ever real of this is stored in us. 

"These things are a part of ourselves. We can not escape 
them. They have had vitally to do in making us what we are. 
The flying years give us a sight of ourselves ; and we see what 
they have done. An old man delights to entertain you with his 
childhood ; and in so doing, he is simply bringing the record up to 
date. The fulfillment of more than he will ever tell vou is there 



Camps and Rattle-fields Revisited. 173 

before you in liis person and spirit. So the past, not in its inci- 
dental and surface form, but in its essential value, is being con- 
stantly restored and reproduced. God finally weaves all the rav- 
eled ends into the fabric. The time of the restitution of all things 
is now. 

"You start up a mountain road. The first day the flowers 
are in bloom at the base. The next day the sun brings out the 
same bloom on the next altitude, and the next the same ; and 
after you have reached the summit, and look back, a great scene is 
before you. But more than this, that journey has become per- 
manently a part of you. The road, the flowers, the rugged rocks, 
the cascades, the trees, the cloudburst, with every vision of your 
eye, — all this has become a part of you never to be efifaced. That 
picture, finer than human artist could furnish for a mint of gold, 
is yours forever. You return to the valle}", you cross the seas, 
you live half a century, but that mountain scene, sunshine and all, 
has been inefTaceably placed on the canvas of your soul. That 
mountain did not absorb you ; you absorbed the mountain. It 
will add richness to your spirit in eternity. In this way we take 
up and retain the essence of things, great and small, as we go on- 
ward. This is not because we will, but whether we will or no. 
It is not a question of preference. This law of human life would 
be fearful indeed were it not for the fact that the human person- 
ality is greater than all events. They shall not take the per- 
sonality up into themselves. Time shall not. death shall not, 
eternity shall not ; for the personality shall survive throughout 
eternity. Only it will be influenced in one way or another by all 
its events, either in time or in eternity." 

I have two friends, who live in a western state; one of them 
far down the shady side of life, a minister of the gospel of peace, 
whose ears never heard the sound of warring guns ; the other 
passed from the ranks to the head of his company during four full 
years of West Virginia, I^Iaryland. Mississippi, Georgia. South 
Carolina and North Carolina campaigning. You know that was 
not featherbed soldiering. 

The former, under no cloud, left this part of Ohio for the 
western home before the rebellion. The last message I heard 
from him conveyed the information, in general terms, that he had 



174 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

no desire to see any part of the State of Ohio, or any one whom 
he had ever known here. The other, who followed Horace 
Greeley's advice after the war, wrote nie last month : 

"Haven't seen a battlefield since the war, excepting Siegel's 
retreat at Carthage, Mo., and do not want to see one. The war 
was the beginning of the end of this republic." 

These two friends must be exceptions to the rule. They 
could not cry their discontents into refreshments with their faces 
buried in their mothers' laps, even if those mothers were living. 
The things which have touched their lives — many of them, at 
least — seem to have become no part of themselves. No beautiful 
or moving pictures, "sunshine and all," have been inef¥aceably 
painted on the canvas of their souls. The mountains must have 
absorbed them, instead of their absorbing the mountains. While 
they should have taken up and retained the essence of things, 
great and small, the essence of the higher, grander life, possible 
to them, has been sapped by external and internal forces. 

Neither would thank me for pity and T, therefore, waste none. 

It is on the assumption that the rule and the exception are 
thus properly stated that I proceed. The very presence here of 
these comrades and their friends classifies them under the rule and 
not as exceptions. 

At last, in a way, in no wise anticipated, came the partial 
realization of the long hope referred to. In May, with the best 
traveling companion any man can find on earth, viz : his "better 
half," I passed between two and three weeks visiting the princi- 
pal camps and battlefields of the 52d Ohio Infantry Volunteers 
from Camp Dennison, Ohio, to Jonesborough, Georgia. It is 
needless, in this presence, to mention even the principal cities 
along the line of campaigning or travel. Their names are 
burned into each memory — Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, 
Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta. On this great thread, six 
hundred miles long, hangs the most of our military history. It 
was, proportionately, equalled in importance and intensity, how- 
ever, by the succeeding, though briefer, chapter. 

If spared in life long enough, I shall review that final chap- 
ter, in a similar manner. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 175 

Upon a suggestion, for which I suspect that General Boyn- 
ton of Washington is remotely responsible, because I met him on 
Chickamauga field, at Crawfish Springs and at Chattr.nooga, my 
attention has been turned to my "field notes" of the visit to 
Kenesaw, for this occasion, though it must give any one pause 
who undertakes to tell veterans of the civil war what they did on 
any given field. 

In that famous struggle, this part of Ohio was largely rep- 
resented by two regiments, whose numbers and deeds will be 
remembered and celebrated until the owl and the bittern typify 
the end of civilization and population over all these regions — the 
o2d and the 98th Ohio Infantry Volunteers. 

At my request, my stenographer, with two or three small 
exceptions, has made a typewritten copy of them, with all their 
imperfections on their heads, and I bring them, as my bundle 
of sticks, to this annual camp fire, even though it is in the sultry 
month of August. 

You will, please, remember that I write at our hotel at the 
close of the day's observations. 

On the preceding afternoon, just before sunset, we had en- 
joyed, for some miles, the full view of both Kenesaws, as the train 
swept southward through Allatoona, Ackworth, Big Shanty, 
and around the eastern end of the greater mountain. 



176 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Marietta, Georgia, Alay '22, 1897. 

At <S o'clock this morning, Uncle Moses Bacon, who intel- 
ligently superintends Mr. Minehart's livery barns, drove a good 
stout team, hitched to a good looking carriage to our hotel en- 
trance. Uncle Mose does not do a great deal of the driving for 
his employer, but Mr. Nichols, the hotel proprietor, suggested 
that he ought himself to drive with us to Cheatham hill and he 
acquiesced at once. He is an ajifc helium character, formerly a 
slave, and knows this part of the coimtry well. With his per- 
fectly white linen duster, starched and clean, surmounted by a 
full white cape of like material and in like condition, and his 
carefully brushed silk plug hat; not, it is true of this, or even last, 
year's style, dented and somewhat strained, in places, the black 
nap brindling under the influence of time and exposure, he pre- 
sented no commonplace figure as he handled the ribbons and en- 
tertained his patrons. 

It is four miles by the road to Cheatham hill, the name given 
to the hill up which we charged on that hot June day. General 
Frank Cheatham, of Nashville, who died September 4, 1886, 
commanded that portion of the Confederate lines and his name 
very appropriately sticks, as did his troops, to the hill. 

When Uncle Mose started out on the drive, he took the main 
road skirting the Marietta side of Little Kenesaw and the ridges 
which run away from it toward the south along the crest of which 
the Rebel line of works was built. I noted that when we had 
marched into Marietta on the od of July, 1861, after the enemy 
abandoned Cheatham hill, our way had been through the mead- 
ows and lower lands to the left of the road we were going out, 
and Uncle Mose said I was correct about it. There had long 
ago been a road along the valley. 

After while we began to see old earthworks. Uncle Mose 
was driving up and along the ridges to the left, that is north, of 
the place at which the charge was made. He knew, however, 
what he was about and said, "I want to bring you on de ground 
by de way you all come." Presently, I recognized the ground 



Camps and Battle-fields Rrvisitp:d. 177 

to the right of the road where we camped in the woods on the 
night of the ::^5th-2Gth cf June. It was a glance ahead, however, 
which enabled me to do this. The ground over which we 
marched from the cam]) to the top of the ridge where we formed 
for the assault could not be mistaken. We had passed out of the 
woods and up a little slope which was, and still is, a sort of head 
to a small valley coming up from the south and there was the 
ridge with its yellow grass — sunburnt — and over there on the left, 
beyond another valley, before we came to a "front," was the tim- 
ber covered hill which showed nothing of the terrors, the horrors 
which it was soon to witness. It was but a short distance from 
the camp among the trees where we had lain behind the ridge, 
without fires, from the night of the 35th of June until the mornuig 
of the 2Tth. "Does you reco'nize (lis road and dat fiel?" "I 
reckon I do Uncle Mose. Drive up along the ridge and let me 
out." He did so. The country roadway runs along a few vards 
behind the line where we formed. The ridge and the field are in 
cotton now, the plants about three inches high. I walked out 
a few steps toward the crest and could easily locate the spot on 
which the men lay down while the preliminaries were finally ar- 
ranged. I looked down the slope over which we moved. The 
same sun was shining over field and wood and stream and it was 
about the same hour of the morning. Cheatham hill had the 
same innocent, peaceful look it had on that other morning, thirty- 
three years ago. I recalled the shot from some sharpshooter, 
perched in a tree on that hill, which struck one of the 53d close as 
the men were lying to the crest. Now, I cannot tell whether the 
soldier was mortally wounded or not. I can see him writhe on 
the ground and I have an impression that he was a member of K 
or G, or B, because he was toward the flying end of the left wing 
of the regiment. I recalled McCook's death song as he strode 
through the brigade and the actual w'ork before us, of which we 
had been advised, began to dawn clearly on all minds. .It was, 
doubtless, a spontaneous quotation, but very appropriate to in- 
spire the patriotic feeling and, if we had been Roman soldiery, 



178 FiFTY-SECOXD O. \'. I. 

a trust in the care of the gods. It was a heathen refrain, but im- 
pregnated with love of country and kith and kin and duty owed 
to them all. 

"To every man upon this earth 

Death cometh soon or late; 

And how can man die better 

Than facing fearful odds 

For the ashes of his fathers 

And the temples of his gods?" 

In a moment, the signal gims on our left, down the hill 
a way, gave their double tongues of flame and shell and we stood 
up. The order of battle was 85th Illinois, skirmishers, then in 
line of battle, 125th Illinois. 8Gth Illinois, 23d Indiana and 52d 
Ohio. At the word, quietly given, the solid colimm of four 
regiments, with the skirmish line out, marching with regimental 
front, at ten paces intervals, moved over the crest and down, 
down the long three hundred yards slope, through the cleared 
pasture field. As we appeared over the crest the noise of battle 
began in dead earnest. The artillery of both sides opened full 
blast and the crack of skirmish rifles punctuated the spaces in 
the roar of the Napoleons. Steadily, we kept our pace. It was 
difficult for the enemy's artillerists to do much execution against 
us, because each step changed the range by reason of the de- 
scent. Three hundred paces down and we came to the fringe 
of trees and bushes, which skirted the hither bank of Noyes 
creek — Northerners would call it a "run"' — a small stream cross- 
ing our path from left to right. Over the stream, we entered a 
little meadow, covered with tall yellow grass, or grain, contain- 
ing, perhaps, four acres, at the further side of which was the edge 
of the wood where the rise of the hill really began and in which 
were the Confederate rifle pits, just abandoned. Our skirmish 
regiment came in to its position in front. We were ordered to 
lie down for a few breaths in this meadow. Just after we rose 
and as we began to look up through the woods and catch clearer 
glimpses of the enemy's formidable earthworks, ten or twelve 
paces before we reached the rifle pits, in the edge of the timber, 
the first man of the regiment I saw fall pitched forward to the 
ground, both hands stretched out with his rifle in the rieht. He 



Camps a\d Battle-fields Revisited. 179 

may not have been the first to fall. It was Isaac Newton Wy- 
coff, Corporal, G Company, whom I had enlisted and taken into 
the service, a student under me in Richmond College for some 
terms before enlistment, a good, brave, sincere boy, a mother 
child, /. e., one between whom and his mother, from his very na- 
ture, you would expect the closest, tenderest ties of affection and 
manner to subsist. He had been a diligent, conscientious stu- 
dent, sober and earnest in the pursuit of knowledge. Every- 
body who knew him liked his sturdy character. 

The regiment pressed on and I never saw him again. His 
wound was mortal and before the day passed his earthly career 
closed on the field. Others began to go down as we climbed 
the slope toward the breastworks. Up and up and up, we went 
through death and wounds to within seventy-five feet of the 
blazing, smoking line. As we crossed the little meadow and 
neared the pits in the edge of the timber, I remember a queer 
thought that passed through my mind as the balls whizzed and 
zipped above and around us striking the grass, the ground and 
an old stump, here and there through the field. They seemed 
to come so thickly that my thought was, "If I should hold out 
my hand I could catch several of them — -a handful — immedi- 
ately." I did not try the experiment, for want of time, or, like 
Pat with his ax, for want of faith. 

You remember he was chopping wood along the creek- 
bank, when his priest came by. They fell to discussing the sub- 
ject of faith. Pat could not understand the Dominie's defini- 
tions. Finally, to make it clear, the priest told him if he'd throw 
his ax into the water actually believing that it would float, it 
would float. To make sure, Pat restated the proposition. "Your 
Riverence says if I'll trow me ax in the wather belaving it'll 
float, it'fl float?" "Yes." "Well, then, here goes." Over went 
the ax and down to the bottom of the creek. In a sort of tri- 
umphant disgust, Pat exclaimed, "Jist as I cxpictcd." 

Perhaps my faith was of that kind. 

At that moment, one of my men close to whom I was mov- 
ing, suddenly whirled about, with a face as white as death's and 
the purpose plainly written on it to take flight. Lifting my 
sword up past his eyes I said, "Stop, Joe," and without a word, 



ISO FiFTV-SECOND O. V. I. 

he turned about and never faced to the rear again during the 
charge. Years afterward, he apphed to me personally for an 
affidavit in aid of his pension application. I prepared and made 
one which embraced my knowledge of his' faithful service, for 
he was a fine soldier from enlistment to the close of the war. 
At the time of furnishing the document, I told him of this inci- 
dent in the Kenesaw charge. He was utterly incredulous and 
must have been oblivious of his own action in turning to flee. 
He had no recollection whatever of it — did not know or remem- 
ber that he had faced to the rear from start to finish. I have no 
doubt of his honesty in the statement, or of his courage on the 
battlefield. 

The 52d had the rear line in making the assault, so that, ac- 
cording to the order of ten paces interval, it w'as forty paces from 
the leading regiment back to ours after the skirmish regiment 
rejoined. Out of something over three hundred men of the 
regiment who participated in the charge eighty-five of them fell 
within fifteen minutes, /'. r., between the point of Wycoff's fall 
and the point of our final check in front of the enemy's earth- 
works, ^litchell's brigade, charging on our right and converg- 
ing toward the same point, when within about one hundred 
yards of the rebel line, came under the heavy quasi enfilading 
fire of Carter's eight-gun battery planted on a hill sime six hun- 
dred yards to our right front, and this, with the rifle fire from 
the infantry line behind the works, drove some of his men into 
the right of our regiments which also came in range of the artil- 
lery and were under a destructive rifle fire and produced some 
confusion. 

]\Iajor Frank P). James's pamphlet entitled "McCook's 
Brigade at Kenesaw," prepared for the Loyal Legion and 
printed in A'"ol. 4 of its Ohio Publications, is a very just and ac- 
curate account. He has talent for such work and sliould do 
more of it. 

Colonel McCook was mortally wounded at the head of the 
brigade and within a few- paces of the enemy's line. He was on 
foot. General Harker, who commanded the brigade which 
charged on our inmiediate left and practically against the flank 
of the same angle in the enemy's line, was killed while riding 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 181 

his horse well up toward the earthworks. I remember seeing 
him the last time as we were crossing the little meadow. His 
brigade had no meadow^ after passing the stream except that the 
right of his regiments came near the upper end of the cleared 
land and it was as they were passing that I happened to glance 
to the left and see him on horseback directing the movements of 
his troops. '•' * '" There were sixteen regiments in the 
charging column at our point ; McCook's, Mitchell's and Har- 
ker's brigades. I have not the figures at hand, but taking our 
own regiment as an average, there were not far from five thou- 
sand men. Of this number, between twelve hundred and fifteen 
hundred fell. It was dreadful, deadly A\ork. The very air 
quivered with insistent mortality. The break in the right wings 
of the regiments and the melting away of the commands in ad- 
vance of us left the 526. in front at the close, and it was the most 
compact and perfect body of troops in the brigade at that time. 
The swing resulting from the confusion mentioned had drawn 
the regiment a little to the right, and wounded and retreating 
men had broken through the right wing of the regiment slightly. 

Let me put aside the "field notes" of 1897 for a few min- 
utes. It is said by the Supreme Court of Ohio, in the case of 
Bell V. Brewster, 44 Ohio State Reports G90, that, 

"A letter purporting to have been written more than thirty years 
ago belongs to the class of instruments known as ancient documents; 
and, where produced from the family papers of the person to whom it 
had been addressed, is presumed to have been written by the person by 
whom it purports to have been written; and the writer and the person 
addressed being dead, is admissible in evidence without further proof of 
its authenticity. And so as to a pay-roll of a military company in the 
war of 1812. on which is what purports to be the signature of a soldier to 
a receipt for pay due him, produced from the archives of the government 
in the war department at Washington City." 

To mv delight, upon my return home. I found, among the 
papers which my good father had transmitted to me before his 
death in 1891, a letter which I had written him thirty-three years 
ago in which is an account of the assault on Kenesaw. which let- 
ter I had never seen or heard of since it was mailed way down 
in Georgia; and which letter I had utterly forgotten. But one 
thing is lacking under the rule of the Supreme Court to make it 
an ancient document, admissible in evidence under favor of its 



183 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

age alone. That one thing is the death of the writer. This 
court will waive that defect and permit me to quote from the 
practically contemporaneous account of the charge and what 
immediately followed. I know of no motive or interest that did 
or could swerve the young author from the truth, as he then saw 
things, in the slightest particular. 
This is a part of that letter : 

"We lay directly under the mountain vintil the night of the 25th 
when we were drawn ofi and marched two miles to the right hand point 
of the mountain as you come south. Here we lay until 8:.30 o'clock on 
the morning of the 27th, a day to be remembered while time shall last. 

At the hour named, we marched along a ridge through woods until 
we reached an open field. Here balls from the rebel skirmish line began 
to disable men in the brigade. We had all learned just before moving 
into the open field what was to be attempted. 

The works of the enemy were to be stormed upon a wooded hill op- 
posite the point where our brigade was formed, five regiments deep. 

Through the leaves along the crest at less than one-half mile from 
us, across two open fields, the works of the enemy could be partially 
seen. There was an ominous stillness in the ranks. All knew that many 
must fall and each heart communed with itself in tlie few brief moments 
of rest. * * * The mother, the wife, the lover, brothers and sisters 
doubtless occupied the thoughts of many of those brave boys. Some 
were gazing upon a sun that would only shine in after days to light their 
graves * * *_ Others were feeling themselves perfect men for the 
last time. Their perfections were soon to be marred. 

Here and there was a talkative, restless, profane old soldier. I re- 
member one who had fought at Pea Ridge and many times and places 
since. Said he, in my hearing, to a comrade: 'Aj'e! God, Jim, that 
hill's going to be worse'n Pea Ridge. We'll ketch hell over'n them 
woods.' This was uttered in a low tone with mysterious nods toward 
the opposite ridge. 

Our artillery kept poviring its iron messengers upon the devoted 
spot selected for our assault. The troops on our right and left were 
ready; on our left a salvo from a six-gun battery told that the instant 
had come. Away, down the long slope, across the wide bottom, the 
long lines of devoted men moved with a shout into the face of the foe. 
When we began to ascend to the works in the edge of the woods the lialt 
and lie down were ordered, by whom I do not know. 

A perfect sheet of lead swept just over us; wounded and bloody 
men from what were then the front regiments began to pour back past 
us. 'Forward,' came the order and at the same instant. The line of 
every regiment in front of us was broken. Men came rushing down the 
slope in crowds breathing hard through fear and physical exhaustion. 



CA:\irs AND Rattle-fields Rev^isited. 183 

The tide of retreat swelled until I thought at one moment my part 
of the regiment, the left wing, would be swept away by the throng. 

Be it ever spoken to the praise of the 52d O. V. I., in that trying 
moment, it did not falter or waver and moved steadily on the charge 
with its line complete until it passed every regiment of the brigade and 
was halted within twenty-five yards, full view, of the rebel breastworks. 

Colonel McCook had fallen. Colonel Harmon, next in command, 
had been shot down; the brigade had given away, as 1 have said, and if 
truth were told and full justice done, the 52d saved all that was saved by 
its nerve and courage for twenty-five minutes, but in less than that time 
eighty-five oiificers and men bit the dust from our ranks. 

Men gave up their lives everywhere, it seemed. You could not say 
or think who would die or be maimed the next instant. I shall never 
forget the thud of a minie ball through human flesh; it is a sickening 
sound, but the saddest sight I saw on that day was each time a poor fel- 
low, near me, would be wounded and start back to the rear only to fall 
pierced by a death shot after he had ceased fighting. I saw in those few 
moments several such cases and when you know how eager the wounded 
man is to get otif the field without being killed, you can appreciate in a 
degree what my feelings were. He is not afraid to die, but after being 
disabled in the fight he wants to live that if he must be killed it may be 
■while he himself is able to strike blows as well as* receive them. 

The other regiments of the brigade were rallied and as the firing 
slacked up, the assault having failed, orders were issued to fortify the 
ground, and, until the rebels left July 2d, it was a constant fight. Night 
and day the deadly rifle was doing its work. Our boys shot their head^ 
logs and chcvaux de frise to splinters killing and wounding from twenty- 
five to fifty of them each day, excepting the 29th of June when a truce 
prevailed to allow the dead lying between the works to be carried ofif or 
buried. On that day. Union and Rebel met between the works, shook 
hands and drank and talked as though they never had tried to kill each 
other. 

If we had carried their works at that point, it would have been 
good-by to much of Hood's or then Johnson's Army. We would have 
been right in rear of Kenesaw. The point of assault was the key to the 
mountain, but human flesh could not do more than we did and a failure 
was the result. On the 2d of July they gave my old orderly sergeant, 
but then Lieutenant Miser, a mortal wound. He was too brave — care- 
lessness and a reckless despite of their attempt to kill him made him, 
without bravado, expose his person above our works and his life paid 
the forfeit. 

On the 3d of July we moved from our works where a hovering death 
had kept our heads for the most part well ducked down and our bodies 
behind earthworks constantly. 



184 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Passing by the suburbs of the neat town of Marietta, some six miles 
south we discovered our friends again intrenched in front of us. We 
took matters coolly, stopping and fortifying not far from them, and, dur- 
ing the 4th of July, shelling their pickets with twelve pounders!" 

Now, we return to the notes which were written without 
the slightest conscious remembrance of this description. 

The situation at the moment we reached the nearest point 
to the rebel works was critical in the extreme. To delay any 
time was to meet annihilation. The works must be carried in- 
stantly or the assault must be abandoned. The line of those 
works facing- a little south of west formed a pronounced angle, 
very nearly a right angle, rounded, of course, at its sharpest 
point. 

There was a crest on the side of the hill above which was 
death to wait long, jtist below which, a man lying flat on the 
ground was an inch or two below the rebel line of fire. The im- 
pression that two distinct — and a final indistinct — assaults were 
made Ijevond this crest has arisen, I think, more from the sepa- 
rate advance of regiments than from concerted brigade move- 
ments. Some of our men were so close to tlie enemy that they 
were called over the works and made prisoners. 

It became a choice when a man found himself practically 
alone close to the mttzzles of loaded rifles, with supports gone, or 
shot down, to obey the order to'"Come over/' or turn his back 
and go the way of all the earth. 

The first sweep had carried McCook's brigade up to the 
slight abattis and hundreds of men fell killed and wounded 
above the crest of which I speak. Our charge strttck against 
the sharp point — so far as it had a point — of the angle. The 
confederates name it "the dead angle." I mean l)y "our 
charge," that of McCook's IJrigade. ]\IcCook fell, Harmon 
took command of the brigade and almost immediately Harmon 
fell. Dilworth of the S.5th Illinois, who had commanded the 
skirmish line down through the field and across the creek, was 
the third olificer in conmiand within a few minutes. A glance 
around showed that we had failed for the time being to carry the 
line. One-third of officers and men down, sttccess was gone. 
Then followed a result which no one had foreseen. Instead of a 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 185 

retreat, the very slight crest was (hscovered and we dropped 
back to its Hue and hugged the ground for a time to recover 
breath and wits. "If we only had tools we'd fortify," but it was 
not practicable to bring picks and shovels, in any quantity, to 
our position in daylight and several liours of the day remained. 
Immediately, almost, creeping up to the very edge of the crest — 
w^e moved to the left and front of the position to which we first 
dropped back, I should say. from thirty to sixty feet — the men 
began to fortify. Sticks and stones and brush and chunks of 
wood were pushed between their heads and the enemy's works. 
Men. all the time lying as flat to the earth as possible, unlocked 
and slipped ofi their bayonets, or pulled them from their scab- 
bards, and began loosening the gravelly soil about their heads 
with the sharp points of the weapons, made for different pur- 
poses ; then reaching carefully down into their haversacks for 
their tin plates used them as shovels to throw up the dirt. Then 
the digging with the bayonets and the shoveling with the plates 
were repeated again and again through the long afternoon. So 
that, what with sticks and stones and bayonets and pans, by 
nightfall, when the picks and shovels came to us. there was no 
mean row of w'orks along our line to keep off the rifle balls of 
our friends, the rebels, and by the next morning — June 28, 
1864 — we had a formidable line of earthworks behind which we 
were destined to stay until the other fellows found it necessary 
to go away and let us have the angle, on the morning of July 3, 
1864. 

As illustrating how close to the ground the men were 
obliged to lie when we dropped back to the little crest. Captain 
Samuel Rothacker, of Company G, was lying w^ith his head on 
his hands and the brim of his big black military hat was shot 
through just by the band within a half inch of his head. So 
close was the rifle practice on both sides for five days that if one 
of the boys wanted a hole through his hat all he had to do was to 
put it on the end of his bayonet and raise it slowly above the 
lowest line of fire and slowly lower it. He would be accommo- 
dated with one or more holes in the hat at any time between sun- 
rise and nightfall. It was, to the last degree, dangerous to ex- 
pose any part of the body in daylight. Both lines had headlogs 



18G Fifty-second O. A''. I. 

about two inches above the earthworks and keen eyes were ever 
on the watch under them for shots. Our flag was stuck above 
the Hne and the staff to-day, in the Capitol Building, shows that 
it was practically shot off in a few minutes. It is my recollection 
that there were either four or five minie-balls fired through it 
within two or three hand breadths of its length, in a very short 
time. It was not shot down, but it required a piece of tin wrap- 
ped and tacked about the staff over that space to prevent its 
breaking off on the march and I think the tin is there still. Sev- 
eral of our men were shot while going about with care obeying 
the order to stoop for protection, but one courageous soul, First 
Lieutenant David F. Miser, G Company, who said he "Would 
stoop to no rebel," had occasion tc go down the line on the last 
day of our stay in the works, July 2, 1864, and, walking bolt up- 
right, he had not reached the left of our line until he fell mor- 
tally wounded. He was a choice spirit. At the time, he was 
carrying the line ofificer's sword which the ladies of Richmond, 
Ohio, had presented to me as the Captain of the Company the 
day we left for the army and I never had the heart to ask his old 
mother to return it. He died with the weapon in his possession 
and she was better entitled to it than I was, barring strict legal 
rights. 

Names and incidents, heroes and tragedies, come in throng- 
ing memories. It is impossible to make note here of even a 
tithe of them. 

A large tree stood in the line of our earthworks at the near- 
est point to the works of the enemy. Some one in the regiment 
had secured a Henry rifle and ammunition for it and on one of 
the five days, using the tree as a shield, I climbed on top of the 
earthworks and began annoying the rebel line to our left by an 
enfilading fire. I became so much interested in the w^ork that I 
grew incautious. Turning my eyes after a time to the right, the 
whole rebel angle was in sight. The scene made cold chills run 
over me, for ordinarily it was unsafe to show even a hand to that 
line. I dropped down and surrendered the rifle — to my own 
men, of course — content with my enfilading experience. 

So close were the works together at the nearest point, that 
the scheme of tunnelling to the rebel line and mining and blow- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 18T 

ing it up entered the heads of the men on the 28th or 29th of 
June, and a tunnel was begun in the works at. the left flank of 
the o2d. With the crude tools for underground work, wdiich" 
were available, the tunnel was pushed as rapidly as possible. 
The earth was "wasted" down the hill to the left and up over 
our works, but so sharp were the eyes of the rebels that they de- 
tected what was going on by the different color of the earth, 
although the difference was very slight. The plan excited great 
interest among officers and men, because it had in it the promise 
of great things if it could be carried through. It was rudely 
outlined thus : Finish the mine by the night of July 3d, charge 
it with large quantities of explosives, spring it at daylight on July 
4th and complete the charge of June 27th. The charge of the 
mine was said to be provided for and there remained only about 
twenty to thirty feet of the W'Ork of the tunnel to be finished, 
when the enemy, like the Arabs "folded their tents and silently 
stole away." Early on the morning of the 3d of July a tall, lank 
Johnny Reb began calling from their works to make sure the 
boys would not shoot him when he showed himself and as soon 
as he attracted attention told us they were "All gone." The 
tension was at onc6 relieved. The "close work," if we ever did 
any more of it, would be on some other field, for the whole Kene- 
saw line had been abandoned by the rebels during the night. 

From our line, we had been able to note the fact that very 
considerable portions of the headlogs on the rebel works were 
eaten away by our bullets. The boys practiced billiard tactics 
on the headlogs and so calculated angles as to have the shots 
glance downward into the trench and they sometimes killed. 

When our line took position at the crest after the failure of 
the assault many dead and wounded were left on the ground be- 
tween the lines. Some of the latter crawled back to us during 
the afternoon and others came in after dark, while some badly 
wounded lay moaning and calling into the night when daring 
comrades or death came to their relief. No living were left be- 
tween the works on the 28th of June and over the dead bodies 
of some hundreds, who had pressed the assault the day before, 
the fierce struggle of life and death went on from morn till night. 
The hot sun poured down on fields and woods and it was not 



188 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

long until the dead began to grow ofifensive to the living on both 
sides. So impregnated did the atmosphere become with the 
odors that a truce was arranged on the 29th of June to bury our 
dead out of sight and to extinguish as far as possible the danger 
to health from the decaying bodies. Some were carried to the 
rear, but most were buried on the spot and while I cannot now 
state accurately the number of this latter class, there must have 
been as many as two hundred and fifty, possibly twice as many. 
During the progress of the burial by details of men, there was a 
cautious, discreet, but good-natured mingling of officers and 
men in the space within the lines. It was under restrictions, not 
indiscriminate, but enemies met and talked in that space as 
though they had never fought to the death and, admitting they 
had so fought, as though they would never light again. 

Cieneral Morgan of our division and General Cheatham, 
commanding in our front, I remember seeing between the 
breastworks. Morgan had on a strapless blouse and Cheatham 
a blue drilling roundabout gathered at the waist. He had bor- 
rowed it from one of his men as a sort of disguise. Other gen- 
eral officers took in the situation at what our boys called "Key 
Point" while the burials went on. Presently the work was fin- 
ished, the truce ended and there was silence for some time. The 
spirit of the friendly communion lingered over the ground. It 
was a common observation that day among those men that if 
the settlement of the w-ar were left to the soldiers who fought 
each other, it would soon be settled. After a time the silence 
was broken and the boys diligently resumed the sworn duty of 
"fighting it out." 

The truce developed an incident which had many illustra- 
tions, in different forms, during the war. Among the men of the 
53d, in G Company, was a young man whose father and mother 
were residents of Richmond. Ohio. He was in his place in line. 
Just over the Confederate works was an older brother, the sur- 
geon of a Texas regiment. He had gone south to live some 
years before the war. It was said they only failed to meet while 
the truce was on because the doctor had gone into Marietta and 
did not return while it lasted. 



Cami'S axi) 1)ATTle-fields Revisited. 189 

When the lone Johnny came cut and reported the Hnes 
evacuated and we had stretched up fell height on our feet with- 
out the fear of death and cooked and eaten a quiet breakfast, 
passing through the formidable earthworks of both lines we 
marched directly through the valley along the course above in- 
dicated to the city of Marietta and beyond in pursuit of the re- 
treating enemy. 

It is time to return to the carriage, which I left a few steps 
away to take my stand on the spot where McCook's Brigade 
formed for the assault and to look in detail over the scene which 
brought back these, among other, memories of that bloody day, 
thirty-three years ago, or rather of those bloody days, for no day 
went by, while we maintained our position, that some lives were 
not put out in the conflict at the "dead angle." The loss of the 
52d, first and last, on that hill, as shown by the official records, 
was one hundred and eight men, twenty-three after the charge 
ended. In proportion, it ecpialled the loss of the 98th on Snod- 
grass hill, wdiere more than every third man went down. Be- 
ginning with the gallant Major Shane, without my books, I can- 
not tell its mortuary list on Kenesaw. It was long enough, 
however, for eternal honors. 

By the way, in the battle of Chickamauga the 98th O. Y. I. 
lost sixty-three officers and men out of one hundred and eighty- 
one engaged. .")() W. R. 1T8 and 858. 

On the Atlanta campaign its loss was eighty-two. 72 W. 
R. 043. 

The following losses by regiments during the Atlanta cam- 
paign are shown at pages 643 and 717 of the volume last cited: 
52d O. V. I., 253; 22d Indiana. 231; 78th Illinois, 305 ;. 131st 
Ohio, 214; 125th Illinois, 206. 

xA.n examination of the official reports shows that the 52d 
Ohio sustained a greater number of casualties than any other 
regiment in the 14th Army Corps during that campaign. The 
highest regiment next was the 32d Indiana, the casualties in 
which amounted to 231. Ours amounted to 353 ! 

Uncle Mose chirked up his square built, fat. well kept team 
and we passed down the road back of the position occupied by 
Morgan's Brigade of our division and 1:)y portions of the 20th 



190 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Corps, during the charge, and turning to the left passed through 
the earthworks of the latter, all to the right and front of the point 
at which our brigade formed for the assault and lower down the 
same slope. The rebel works were sharply refused on their left 
from the dead angle and this had permitted a corresponding ad- 
vance of our extreme right. Our carriage crossed the little 
stream and began to ascend the eastern side of it through 
trenches and earth thrown up, to all appearances a year or two, 
instead of thirty odd, years, ago. Up near the rebel line, i. e., 
within a couple of hundred yards. Uncle Mose stopped in front 
of a comparatively modern frame house, not large, and without 
trees or grass about it, where he said "Mr. Chanlcy'' lived, who 
now owns the battle ground. The name of the proprietor proved 
to be Mr. Virgil B. Channell. He was down at his little barn 
some distance in rear of his house and quite near the rebel line, 
which runs from the hill down through his land. The call of one 
of his children soon brought him to the house and I told him 
that our mission was to review the ground on Cheatham hill 
where the charge was made. The proprietor told us that he was 
a very small boy at the time, having been born in sight of the 
field and of the location of his own house, in 1859 ; that he had 
lived there always. His father's house is still standing, perhaps 
five-eighths of a mile in front of the rebel line and a half mile in 
rear of the 20th Corps position. It can be seen from the hill. 
Mr. Channell was very much interested when he learned that I 
had participated in the charge and cjuite anxious to go with us 
over the ground. His house stands in the field to the right of 
the point at which the attack was made — that is to our right — 
and about forty rods away from the position at which Mitchell's 
Brigade rested and intrenched when the attack failed. It is 
really down the southern slope cf the hill in the general direction 
of the rebel works if you regard the charge as made up the west- 
ern slope thereof. The ground above the house is now cleared 
and under cultivation almost to the earthworks made by Mitch- 
ell's Brigade. To those we came first and next entered those 
thrown up by our own brigade. The preservation of these lines, 
where they lie in the woods, or even in open fields, where not 
plowed over, is wonderful. The ditch on the inside has filled a 



Camps and Battle-p^ields Revisited. 191 

little with leaves and wash, or, in the fields, with the wash alone; 
the headlogs are gone and the earth has flattened on top of the 
old ridge, but if "the boys" were there with the picks and shovels 
they could restore ditch and ridge along most of the line in a half 
hour, especially if minies were singing from the other line, and 
as for the headlogs, they could be provided and put up very 
speedily. Very little of grass or w'eeds, comparatively speaking, 
seems to have grown on the up-thrown earth and it lies bare and 
yellow, or red, distinctly defined for long distances. There is 
very little of frost or snow to upheave, or wash, or disintegrate 
the soil and it is not difficult to believe, in fact, it seems to force 
itself on the mind, under Patrick Henry's rule of judging the 
future by the past, that the tourist of 196^ will be able to trace 
the lines on Cheatham hill as easily as I did to-day, and I walked 
the crests of both of them, just as the boys did on that quiet 
morning, July 3, 1864. As soon as we entered the works of our 
brigade, I made for the point nearest the enemy's line. Actual 
measurement now shows what I remember of the distance as I 
stepped it in July, 18G4. It is ninety feet now, it was thirty paces 
then. Facing the hill from which we came that morning, the 
first little difference noted is that the grass-covered field is now 
in cotton ; next, the trees along the creek are gone and the fringe 
of bushes is lighter and thinner. * * * fhe 1 ttle meadow 
is discernible, but somewhat effaced, so far as its lines are con- 
cerned, because the ground has been cleared half way up to our 
works and is now under cultivation. The greater portion of the 
meadow is now in grass, but not in thrifty condition. One can 
make out the old "edge cf the tin ber" and the rebel rifle pit line 
by the stumps from the clearin-^- w' ich still stmd, at least a few 
of them, in a mouldering condition. Some of the la'^ger trees 
have disappeared and there are some new growths, but except- 
ing the undergrowth, which is not thick, the effect of the shade 
from the forest trees is substantially what it was when we 
marched away after the rebels. A large tree which stood in our 
line at the nearest point is gone. At our feet lay the mouth of 
the tunnel which was, and is, within our line of earthworks ; it 
has caved in for about six feet from the original opening, but, 
otherwise, the tunnel is there to-day as we left it. I looked into 



192 Fifty-second O. Y. I. 

the mouth and the opening through which the men worked 
seemed unchanged in size. I traced the course above ground 
between the lines to ascertain whether or not any portion of the 
tunnel had caved. There is not a break visible and I have no 
doubt that one of the miners could go in with his short candle 
to-day and easily make his way to the end up near the rebel 
works. Some of the roof may have fallen, but it would be safe 
to wager that there is no serious obstruction from end to end 
of the famous subway. There runs our line down to our left, 
somewhat refused, until there comes a break where the earth 
from the tunnel was wasted, being carried along the trench in 
sacks or baskets or buckets. One of the Illinois regiments, 
starting its line of works in rear of the point, just mentioned, so 
as to overlap fifteen or twenty feet, continued to the left push'ng 
a little more to the front, but this "point" and the broken line 
are twice as far from the rebel works as the "nearest point," or 
further. Lieutenant Miser fell near the break. Standing still 
in the same place, one could appreciate from the location of 
neighboring rebel batteries how completely the conformation of 
the ground at the point where our brigade finally stuck made it 
impossible by a few inches for a single one of their guns to touch 
the men, hugging the ground. It is not probable that any one 
on either side knew or appreciated this condition of the engi- 
neering portion of the situation before the charge was made, yet 
it was a few inches of earth that made our sticking so close to 
our antagonists after the assault possible, and back of the line 
which nature had made of these few inches of earth as a protec- 
tion from hostile rifles such was the surface of the ground that 
the bearers of picks and shovels or anything else in daylight 
were in mortal peril from thousands of guns, in unfriendly 
hands. 

We walked about over the hill side within our works. Mr. 
Channell called special attention to a little, stunted, gnarled oik. 
fifteen or twenty feet high and from four to six inches in diame- 
ter which was literally shot to pieces during the battle. It 
stands in the present edge of the timber just back of our posi- 
tion and had been shot through and through, I was about to 
sav, hundreds of times. No man can tell how often. The tree 



CA^[^s Axi) Battle-fiklds Revisited. 193 

has not grown in size since the war. It must have had some 
defect in one side at the time of the action ; at least, it shows it 
now, for the bullets made openings through the tree in several 
places and the splinters and frayed edges of the wood are there 
still only slightly modified by time. Mr. Channell said that not 
long — a year or two — ago, a captain of one of the Illinois regi- 
ments, in his presence, put his finger into one of these holes and 
pulled out a bullet which had lodged there during the battle. A 
boy Mr. C. had working for him, last year, not appreciating the 
character of the relic, proceeded to chop the tree down. The 
farmer happened to note what was going on in time to save it. 
The fresh ax marks are at the root, however. The struggle of 
the tree for life excited curiosity and interest. It had been 
Avounded almost to death and through the third of a century had 
barely lived. Some little repair of the ravages of war has taken 
place which looks like the healing or partial healing over of the 
wounds, yet so great has been the struggle to live that the re- 
maining vitality has been more than consumed in the effort to 
heal and no other growth beyond the few leaves each year has 
occurred. It reminded me of many a poor fellow who went 
home with wounds and scars to drag out a miserable existence, 
never well, never strong, ever living and yet ever dying, until 
the end came, or will come, as come it must to the little oak of 
Kenesaw. Here, as at Chickamauga, the timber shows its scars 
all over, but one who has not studied effects would not compre- 
hend or appreciate what the smaller or larger gnarled growths 

mean. 

In all the destruction of timber by artillery which I ever saw 
that along the Lafayette road in the vicinity of the Kelly house 
took the lead. While I passed over that road many times in the 
first four months of 18G4, and while the riven, mangled trees 
showed white, fresh wounds the interest never abated. It was a 
horrid dream, a bloody drama, a patch of hell on earth, and it 
came back with each new sight of the terrific indices of the dread 
actualities, which had been hung up on the forest trees along 
that Chickamauga thoroughfare. 

Walking up and down and over our own works, we passed 
to the Confederate line and standing on the "nearest point" of 
that I said to Mr. Channell. 



194 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

"Yon have lived here all your life and are familiar with the 
ground and distances, how far is it from that crest, where we 
started, down to the creek?" 

"Well, sah, I should say it is three hundred yahds." 

"Now, how far is it from the creek to the point where we 
stand?" 

"Just about the same distance." 

"From the crest to the works, then, six hundred paces?" 

"That's right, sah." 

In the Cadiz address, delivered May 30, 1896, approxi- 
mating from memory, only, I had said that "we fell into line be- 
hind some ridge, or crest, or under some sort of natural screen, 
or cover, to peer to the front, in a vain efifort to solve the prob- 
lem of that leafy ridge, and whence to burst, upon the firing of 
the signal guns, in steady lines of battle, on the works of the 
enemy six lunidvcd yards azvay." 

Ever since the publication of the article of Major Frank B. 
James, already referred to, and his map of the ground, I have 
queried about the three gun battery which he places immedi- 
ately behind the angle of the Confederate works in a sort of 
lunette. No such battery or lunette was located at the point 
indicated. It would have been of no use to the enemy if located 
there, because it could not have been brought to bear on any 
portion of our lines. There is no sign of any such structure 
ever having been made. 

Carter's eight gun battery is located in the true direction, 
but true distance on the proportion of his map would place it 
somewhat farther from the point of the assault. It is possible 
that the three gun battery was away in the rear of the point, held 
in some sort of reserve. I did not make search at any great dis- 
tance for evidence on this point. — I have since learned that there 
is no sign of it within four hundred yards and the ground falls 
away to the rear after thirty-five yards from the breastworks. 

The first battery up the rebel line toward Kenesaw, proper, 
was about one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five 
yards from the point and in a kind of fort some thirty feet square, 
the fort making part of the line of earthworks. While a survey 
wo'ild change a little some of the Major's lines when brought 



Camps and Battle-fields Re\ isited. 195 

lo scale, his map is substantially accurate otherwise, so far as I 
liad time to make observations and will conve}' to future genera- 
tions, as well as the present, a just conception of the positions 
and lines of the contending forces on that memorable day. 

From the position on the Confederate works, where Mrs. 
H., Mr. Channell, his three little boys and myself stood, we 
moved along the crest of the works to the fort above mentioned, 
irom which the whole line to and including Big Kenesaw sub- 
stantially came into view. I had regretted our being compelled 
TO give up the trip to the top of Kenesaw — there is no road and 
the climbing is long and rough and hard — from which to take 
a comprehensive view of the battle lines, but here was most un- 
expected and gratifying compensation for that supposed loss. 
The view point is clear and satisfactory all along the ridge, up 
over Little Kenesaw and to the summit of Big Kenesaw. Mis- 
sion Ridge does not stand out more distinctly than the Confed- 
erate Kenesaw line does from this little fort, standing like all the 
other earthworks hereabouts, almost untouched by the waste or 
change of years. Its guns could not touch us after we were w'ell 
up toward the enemy's line owing to the lay of the land. All 
the way from the point up to this fort, the rebels had thrown 
up heavy earthworks, traverses, running back at right angles 
with their main line twenty to thirty feet, at intervals of fifteen 
feet and covered the spaces with pine logs and sods to protect 
themselves against the enfilading fire from oiu" line in which I 
was taking a hand with the Henry rifle, mentioned a while ago. 
It was evidently a hot place in their line and I suppose the exact 
quantity of ammunition expended by the two sides on Cheatham 
hill through those five days wall never be known. After the 
rebel evacuation, we were told that our rifles had killed men who 
were moving about two miles, or more, in the rear of their line, 
almost in the outskirts of Marietta. The walk up to the fort 
gave us a perfect view of the ground over which Harker's Brig- 
ade charged on our left. There is no crest or depression in it 
anywhere to afTord protection to men moving on the works or 
lying flat on their faces. The guns of the enemy swept the whole 
surface and made life on the slope after the unsuccessful assault 
impossible. It was no wonder General Harker perished as he 



196 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

moved about on horseback within short range of keen marks- 
men, a target which some one must hit very quickly, because his 
mount hfted him above the Hue of blue and distinguished him 
to the point of inviting his visitor, speedy death. 

While we walked back to the point, I asked Mr. Channell 
how much of the hill, rather how much land, he owned there 
and he answered. "Sixty-five acres." He owns the entire battle 
ground and, in his way, is endeavoring to pick up all the in- 
formation that he can derive from visitors with reference to the 
charge and its incidents. I suggested to him that there would 
ultimately be great value and interest to him in the preservation 
of the natural features, as nearly as possible, embracing the two 
lines of works so near together and the forest immediately 
around them. Less than ten acres would make a little park to 
preserv-e the memorials of one of the heroic incidents of the war ; 
fifteen acres, I think, would be abundance for the purpose. He 
said that people would come when he was away from home and 
go over the ground without permission and would carry away 
anything they could find in the nature of mementoes. Visitors, 
running into hundreds, come every year from all over the world, 
as they do to the Chickamauga, Lookout and Mission Ridge 
fields, for all sort of purposes. Many of them are survivors of 
the contest, actual participants ; many were soldiers in the armies 
then on Kenesaw ; many were soldiers from other armies ; the 
friends of participants and other soldiers come ; military stu- 
dents at home and from strange countries come. It would be 
necessary for Mr. C. to stand guard, or fence his property, to 
control trespassers, I suppose, for the vandal and the idiot find 
their way to Cheatham hill as well as to Bryant's Spring and to 
the Chickamauga towers, and monuments, and markers. 

From the angle of the rebel line the roof of Mr. Channell's 
birthplace and the trees about the house are visible through the 
timber down the valley of the creek which bends around toward 
the southwest after passing the front of the rebel line at this 
point. Mr. C's father was too old, or infirm, for the service and 
was not in the Confederate army. He came to view this ground 
the day we marched away from it and on many occasions after- 
ward passed over it. He found, in the lapse of time, parts of the 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 197 

bodies of our dead exposed, in some instances, because of the 
shallowness of the graves and the disturbance of the gravel and 
earth with which they had been covered. They were all long 
since removed, some of them to the graveyards in God's country, 
near the old homes from which they came, but most of them to 
the National Cemetery at Marietta, where rest the fourteen thou- 
sand "brave boys in blue," while at the same place is the Con- 
federate cemetery containing about thirteen thousand, sons of 
the south, who went down in their devotion to the Confederacy. 
We stepped down from the earthworks to inspect the ground 
between the lines. The abattis which presented its sharpened 
points and brushy obstructions to our advance, and to which 
they added by throwing over cheval de frisc by night, making us 
believe one night for a time that they were coming, as it lay 
some twenty feet in front of the earthworks, had long ago rotted, 
or been carried away and we at once found our feet among the 
graves hastily made on the 29th of June, 18G4. Like the earth- 
works, even these small disturbances of the surface, many of 
them, remain plainly discernable. There is the excavation in 
which each body was placed and beside it is the little flattened 
mound of earth and gravel which was made to reach the body 
at the time of its removal. The grave contains a nest of leaves 
drifted, or fallen, into it, but the little mound, like the breast- 
works, in most instances, lies bare of dead or living vegetation. 
This temporary cemetery of the past stretches between the lines 
for a distance of perhaps a hundred yards. While talking with 
a gentleman in Marietta last evening he asked me if it was true, 
as he had been told, that details of Confederate soldiers aided 
our men in the burial of our dead. I did not recollect any such 
thing; on the contrary, it is my recollection that our men did 
all the work of burying our dead, and I so advised the inquirer 
after information. At one point in our walk and talk over these 
old graves, when we were at the southern end of them. Mr. 
Channell pointed to a spot between two trees and about twenty 
or twenty-five steps from the Confederate line and said an old 
Federal soldier had told him that just there Dan. McCook zvas 
shot from his horse. I told Mr. C. that in the first place McCook 
could not have been shot from his horse in the assault, for, to mv 



198 FiFTY-SECOXD (3. V. I. 

certain knowledge, he was not on horseback at any time after 
we formed for the charge. Every ofiticer of our brigade left his 
horses back of the ridge on which we formed and I think the 
same thing was true of Mitcheh's Brigade on our right. Dil- 
worth commanded our skirmish Hne down through the open 
field and may have remained mounted until he came to the creek. 
I did not see him as we moved down, but 1 am very certain that 
from the creek to the works we were all on foot. 

In the next place, while I did not see McCook fall, his posi- 
tion being at the right of the brigade and mine at the left, he be- 
ing with the front regiment and I with the rear regiment, I did 
not think he fell so far to the south by at least forty feet. The 
old soldier's statement of the place being a little nearer the truth 
than his statement as to the manner of the fall, he was still 
only entitled to the credit of romancing, though he said he saw 
the fall. McCook and Harmon and Harmon's prospective son- 
in-law, Captain Fellows, of his regiment, all fell near together 
and were carried l^ack through the lines while the firing was at 
its highest, the two latter were killed, McCook, as already stated, 
was mortally wounded ; the ball passed through the top of his 
right lung entering just beneath the collar bone. He lived until 
July 17, next following. 

The small sons of Mr. Channell were busy watching for 
bullets and other debris of battle as we walked over the field and 
works. The little fellows would find a relic, but leave it for the 
visitors to pick from the ground. We brought away several 
balls and pieces of lead, the tin frame of a Confederate cartridge 
box and a gun cap of that old fashioned pattern. One good 
look all over the scene and we made our way down to Mr. Chan- 
nell's house. Here the little fellows brought out their stocks 
of relics, for they keep them separate, and we made some pur- 
chases by way of mementoes and to reward the diligence and 
care in using their sharp eyes on the ground of conflict for our 
benefit. 

In what is now Mr. C.'s front yard stood an oak tree when 
the war was going on. Some years later and before Mr. C. built 
there a colored man, who had leased the land, grubbed up the 
tree. In doing so he opened the shallow grave of one of our 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 1H9 

soldiers, who had evidently crawled out to the tree as a picket, 
or sharpshooter, in front of the 20th Corps and been killed on the 
spot where he was Iniried. The old darkey dug up all the bones 
and threw them in a heap by the fence, a few feet away, where 
they have remained until this day, being gradually diminished in 
numbers by being carried away piece-meal by the visitor and 
relic hunter. Mr. C. went in search of a bone — a gruesome sou- 
venir, reminder that we inhabit mere dust and ashen tabernacles 
■ — for me to carry away. "Sonny," said he, "do you know whar 
the thigh bone is which was kickin' about the yahd?" "No, 
sah, I don't," and then his eye fell on the wasted middle portion 
of the radius or ulna of one of the soldier's arms and I brought 
it away with me. Taking a drink from the only well on Cheat- 
ham hill and afterward a drink of good buttermilk from the 
churn of Mrs. Channell, we called our driver and saying good-by 
to our liost and hostess and their children came away, reluct- 
antly. * * * 

I am not now to pass from history to criticism. 

If we could have carried the angle, it would have proved 
most disastrous to the Confederate army if the advantage had 
been pushed. This conclusion flows from the very conditions 
which made it morally certain that we could not carry the angle. 
The enemy's line drawnng in toward his rear both right and left 
gave him short interiors on which to move troops to the assist- 
ance of those holding the point. When we left the ridge there 
was a moral certainty, not to us, for we knew too little of what 
the leaves covered on that hill to entertain any special convic- 
tion, but in the nature of things, in the environment, on all the 
facts, there was a moral certainty that the assault would fail. 

For nearly twenty years whenever I have thought of Kene- 
saw I have remembered one author's description of New Hope 
Church with which you had some familiarity after the deadly 
work there ended. Said he, 

"Every man knew that Hood's Corps was in front and be- 
hind the breastworks, and that it would take desperate fighting 
to dislodge them. Therefore, as the columns of assault moved 
out thev moved with a rush, and though met with the same aw- 
ful fire as before, scores and hundreds of men surged right up to 



300 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

the breastworks and died there. It was simply slavighter. Sher- 
man had blood to spare, and Hooker poured it out in the dark 
forest as though human life had no value. The steady sheet of 
•flame pouring over the logs scorched and withered the blue lines 
until they had to draw away from it.' 

My story is told. "He who has served his country well/' 
says Voltaire, "has no need of ancestors." An hundred and 
twenty years of the American Republic have shown lines of 
worthy sons of noble sires, but where freedom and equality pre- 
vail "ancestors" can neither make nor unmake men. With us, 
it has ever been, 

"Act well your part, 
There all the honor lies." 

In the honorable discharge from the service, carefully pre- 
served as an heirloom or possession, is at once the patent and 
the certificate of a nobility in which the possessor and his suc- 
cessors to the latest generation may take a just and growing 
pride. 

Many of us met and parted in the ante helium days, when 
"peace had her victories no less renowned than war." That 
was the morning of life. On such fields as Kenesaw, to 
many of our comrades, there came together the climax, the 
noon-tide, of fame and the night of rest, the breaking of the 
eternal morn. To survivors to-day, there will scarcely come the 
climax of fame ; it is already in the past, was on some battlefield, 
was in the sacrifices or heroisms of the years of warfare, or may 
have been attained in the walks of civil life and times. For each 
one there remains, not far ofif, the coming night, the rest beneath 
the shrubs and flowers ; where clouds and sunshine shall play at 
hide and seek ; where winter's cold and summer's heat shall vex 
not ; where the winds shall whisper and birds shall sing of Him 
who tempers the one and cares for the fall of the other, until the 
resurrection hour. "Ye are of more value than many spar- 
rows." 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 201 

In his last moments. Stonewall Jackson, dreaming- that they 
were still on the march, said, "Let us cross over the river and 
rest under the trees." 



Then. 



"Beyond the rock waste and the river, 
Jl'c shall be soon." 

"So live, that when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

This concludes the address. The notes proceed : 
It develops that Mrs. H. somehow lost a valuable and 
highly prized cape on the trip, but the loss cannot impair the 
satisfaction derived from the visit to the famous hill or prevent 
our taking the 6 :30 p. hl train for .Atlanta. 



202 P'^IFTV-SECOXD O. V. I. 

Atlanta, Georgia, May 2-i, 1897, 

According to promise, we left Marietta Saturday evening at 
6 :30 and an hour later were quartered at the Kimball House, 
Room 106, very desirable quarters, in every way. Ralph Byers, 
unexpectedly met us in front of the hotel and reminded us there- 
by that we are not entire strangers in this rushing city of one 
hundred tliousand people. It was arranged that Mrs. H. 
should go to church with Mrs. Byers in the morning and that I 
should appear for dinner at the Byers residence. This pro- 
gramme was exactly carried through. We had a delightful din- 
ner and a delightful afternoon with our friends at 198 Oak 
street. Captain Byers is an old soldier and an old lawyer. He 
wore the blue and he practiced in Ohio. I have known him well 
since 1880. These facts furnished the basis for my own pleas- 
ure, while an acquaintance of as many years and the intimate 
friendship and sympathy of our better halves warranted thor- 
ough enjoyment of the meeting by them, after a long separation. 
The family has been south for some years. Late in the after- 
noon we took car for the return to our hotel. It is not very 
far from the Byers home to the point on M^iitehall street, now 
well within the city, where we camped after the fall of the city, 
from September 4, 1864, until the 29th of that month. I shall 
not try to locate the camp more definitely as my old notes do 
enough in that respect for all practical purposes. 

We had a good night's rest and spent this forenoon writing 
and arranging for a visit to Peach Tree Creek this afternoon. 
The events which make the spot interesting to me are recorded 
in my journal with oppressive briefness. It was, of course, in 
1864. 

"July 19. News of Colonel McCook's death. Fight at 
Peachtrce. Loss heavy." 

I am free to say that conveys very little idea to the mind of 
a stranger to the action, but let us go out there. 

At 1 :30 p. m. the carriage came and we started westwardly 
soon to take and stick, for five or six miles, to a wide, unfinished 
street, which proved to be the line in wliich are laid the pipes 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 203 

of the Atlanta Water System. The pumping station is at the 
mouth of Peach Tree Creek, /. c, where it empties into the Chat- 
tahoochee, and the road runs straight from the city to the sta- 
tion, about seven miles. The ride was not as smooth and easy 
as it might have been. It was like, and was in fact, a rough 
country road, not stony, but uneven, with the final finer grading 
and all the gravelling undone. The livery man of whom I made 
inquiries before we left the city said a Mr. Moore in the vicinity 
would be able to direct the driver to the point I wished to visit, 
i. e., "where the Federal troops crossed Peach Tree, nearest the 
mouth, on the 19th of July, 1864." In due time, the driver 
stopped at a cross roads, where stands a fine country residence. 
This was Mr. Moore's house and the driver went up the long 
walk to find the proprietor. We were fortunate. Mr. Moore 
was at home and at once came down the walk to inquire our 
wishes. We found him a very genial and intelligent "Georgia 
farmer," as he called himself. I explained to him briefly the ob- 
ject of my search. Immediately, he said, "I think I know the 
ground ; it is one of two places which are not far apart." I in- 
vited Mr. Moore to take one of the vacant seats and ride wth us 
to the creek. As we rode along our conversation made more 
definite the place we unshed to find and we presently drove into 
a field and out to a point overlooking the valley not far above 
Mr. Moore's mill, which is three-quarters of a mile above the 
point at which Peach Tree enters the Chattahoochee. Mr. 
Moore had said, wdien I first told him what I was looking for, 
that it was on Mr. Campbell's land. Very soon after we drove 
into the field mentioned, Mr. Campbell and his oldest son came 
from their work and joined our party. While the point on 
which we stood very much resembled the one of which I was in 
search, there were no evidences of the earthworks which we had 
erected and in which the battery had been placed and the mo- 
ment you looked ofif in any direction the conditions did not fit 
memory's landscape. I said to Mr. Moore and Mr. Campbell. 
"This is not the point." Driving back along the private road 
by which we had crossed Mr. Campbell's land as far as his house, 
we landed again and went on foot some twenty rods toward the 
creek and came out on fJic point. Here were the remains of the 



204 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

earthworks, though plowed over and planted for years. Their 
location and course were clearly traceable and fitted into recol- 
lection precisely and when the landscape was scanned the whole 
scene of July 19, 1804, came back with distinctness of outline. 

On the ISth of July we crossed the Chattahoochee above 
the mouth of Peach Tree a considerable distance and above the 
mouth of Nancy's Creek and then, crossing Nancy's Creek, built 
a line of works, against possible attack. On the 19th we moved 
forward and in the afternoon, from the ridges along the north 
side of Peach Tree, discovered signs of the enemy's presence 
south of the creek. Gradually we approached the stream and 
about 4 p. m. one-half of the companies of my regiment were 
working across the stream by a narrow foot bridge constructed 
by placing two large jDoles from bank to bank on Vvhich cross 
sticks and pieces of wood were laid and over these grass and sod. 
The walk was about, I should say, less than, three feet in width. 
The stream at that point is perhaps eighteen or twenty feet wide 
and appeared to be of very considerable depth. At least, it did 
not seem desirable to fall olif the temporary bridge while cross- 
ing the rickety structure. The enemy along the ridge in front 
had obtained the range of the crossing point, although there was 
then, as now, a fringe of bushes along the edge of the water, 
which afiforded a screen of some value as against Confederate 
sharp-shooters. 

As the men crossed I sent them under cover of the bushes 
down stream to fall into line on the right, single rank. In front 
of us and making an addition to the screen of bushes mentioned 
was a corn field, practically three cornered, covering the bottom 
land between us and the foot of the ridge on which the enemy 
was posted. The ridge was near the creek some distance to the 
right of our line and swung away from it, say fifty rods on our 
left. This made the triangle of corn land. The Campbell house 
stood in an orchard on the ridge in front of our left several rods 
nearer the creek and also nearer the line of the hedge, extended, 
than the present house stands. We had no definite notion as to 
the number of rebels on the crest. We were put over the creek 
for the very purpose of finding out the fact. When all my 
skirmish companies were over — the balance of the regiment still 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 305 

crossing — I gave the word and the Hne moved into the corn, 
which was higher than a man's head, for the most part, and we 
made good time toward the ridge. The hne of my men could 
be made out as it progressed, by the shaking of the corn and the 
Hne from the ridge and the hne of the enemy in the edge of the 
timber stretching away to our left poured a hot fire into it. 
Campbell, of Company K, was mortally wounded. I seem to 
hear, still, the poor fellow's screams and groans when and after 
he fell near me, but we could not stop. Lieutenant Lane of 
Company E was wounded and fell. Others went down while we 
were still rushing through the corn. When we came out of it 
at the foot of the hill, the enemy had fallen back. I liad less 
than two hundred men and it came out afterward that the crest 
was held by, possibly, fifteen hundred to two thousand. We had 
stormed the ridge because of their inability to determine how 
many men were coming through the corn. Two hundred made 
as much noise as two thousand would, almost, and the confi- 
dence shown by the fellows who were coming was such as to 
lead to the conclusion by the Confederates that there were 
enough to carry the crest if they should try to hold it. If they 
had known our number, they had nothing in the world to do but 
wait on the crest and when we emerged from the cornfield look 
down the slope and say, "Come up here." Every man could 
have been taken prisoner, or killed if he refused to surrender, 
and the brigade which was crossing the creek as rapidly as pos- 
sible on the little bridge might not have carried their position. 
My men swept up the slope and the comparative lightness of the 
line and its fire was soon disclosed to the enemy back in the 
v/oods. They organized to drive us back across the creek and 
presently began a counter-charge, in force. The remainder of 
our brigade and jMitchell's regiments were coming to the crest 
as rapidly as they could cross the stream and double quick 
through the cornfield. By the time the rebels struck us we had 
grown so strong along the ridge that they could not regain it, 
although for an hour a most persistent and bloody effort was 
kept up to drive us back from it. The contest was fierce and 
fatal. The rebels made their second mistake in supposing that 
there was nothing along the crest but the thin line which had 



206 Fifty-second O. A'. I. 

routed them and that it must, in turn, be routed. They did not 
appreciate the continual accessions from the boys who were 
coming- to our aid. The loss of tlie 52d was heavy in killed, 
wounded and prisoners. Captain Schneider, Lieutenant Don- 
aldson, I recall, as among the killed, and among the prisoners 
Lieutenant Colonel Clancy. Tlie regiment was struck hard. 
Company K, for example, went into the fight with thirty-two 
officers and men, as I recall the number. When the engage- 
ment was over and its scattered remnants were brought into line 
there were only eleven men left. The other twenty-one were 
either killed, wounded or prisoners. At the fence, which then 
stood a short distance beyond the crest, after the rebel counter- 
charge was repulsed, three of that company were found lying 
side by side where they had been loading and firing between the 
lower rails, one of them shot through the head and two of them 
through the heart ; John Bittner, Thomas Duke and Samuel 
Smith. The boys always called the last named "Chubb." They 
were all good soldiers, none better. 

We were more than decimated by the enemy's guns. The 
color-bearers were shot down and a beardless boy of Company 
C found both flags lying on the ground at the close of the fight. 
I made him color-bearer on the spot. A little Captain of the 
S5th Illinois, Kennedy by name, who always reminded me of 
Lieutenant Add. Marsh of Company G, 52d, in the charge of his 
regiment, pushed through the orchard past the Campbell house 
and was with his company at the fence in rear of the house when 
the counter-charge struck them. He had the word "stick" half 

uttered, "st ," when a minie ball entered his mouth and he 

fell dead. His boys were driven from the fence, to which he 
evidently was about to encourage tliem to stick, but they held 
the line of the house against the assaulting column. 

Lieutenant David F. Miser had fallen at Cheatham hill ; 
over to the right of the house when the firing ceased, I found his 
cousin, Benj. F. Miser, of Company G, mortally wounded. I 
saw him supported by a comrade while he pencilled a note to his 
mother in which he told her that he had not more than ten min- 
utes to live, that he had tried to do his duty and that he was not 
afraid to die. The pencil dropped from his fingers ; the precious 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 20? 

missive was taken in charge by the comrade ; the dying soldier's 
eyes closed and within the time he had named his spirit took its 
flight with the departing day. A braver man, a truer soldier, a 
more faithful son, never offered his life for his country. 

Captain P. C. Schneider of I Company was killed in the 
counter-charge. His company was quite a distance to the right 
of the Campbell house with the reserve which was struck by the 
enemy on the right flank and in front. A few paces in front of 
the point where the Captain fell, at the edge of the locust grove, 
a Confederate Major's cap was found with a hole made by a pis- 
tol ball through the band at the right front. The Captain was 
found with his Smith & Wesson by his right hand zi'itli one 
empty chamber. The story well or ill founded, on these facts, was 
that the Captain had killed the Major, who was carried to the 
rear and was himself immediately killed. In the counter- 
charge the lines were very close together at that point, in fact, 
there was some mixing of Federals and Confederates. 

The Captain was a capable, conscientious officer, a strict 
disciplinarian and worthy of higher rank. In a conversation 
which we had, shortly before crossing the Chattahoochee, he 
told me that my Brentwood promotion had wounded him ; he 
thought some previous militia or military experience had better 
qualified Jiim for the place and that McCook should have taken 
that into consideration when the vacancy occurred and given 
the position to him. He said that he had watched with a jealous 
eye, but that I had won his heart and he was glad that 1 had re- 
ceived the promotion rather than himself. 

I had noted his reserve, but long before concluded it was 
part of his nature. The conversation showed that he had gone 
through a protracted, silent struggle and, without an efifort on 
my part, he had come over to me and given "the touch of na- 
ture which makes the whole world kin." It was a brushing of 
hearts which made us such friends as only death, which came so 
soon, could part. 

Lieutenant Donaldson of Company E, who had approved 
himself as equal to every occasion on the long campaign, but 
whose service had not been fully appreciated by some of his su- 
periors, was killed on the ridge above and a little to the right of 



208 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

the spring. This ended the want of appreciation. He had 
sealed his record with his hfe-blood and this entitled his mem- 
ory to sacred regard. 

It was a sorrowful mustering of our broken ranks that 
night, but there was work, serious work, for the survivors be- 
yond burying the dead and sending back the wounded to be 
cared for in the field hospitals. We had repulsed the enemy, 
but he lingered close to us and kept up a desultory fire. We 
were the first to cross the last stream on the way to Atlanta and 
there was still a hope on the part of the enemy that we might be 
driven back. Troops below us attempting to cross had been 
defeated that day. So, intrenching tools were brought up and 
the work of going down into the ground began and progressed 
through the livelong night. By daylight on the 30th, we were 
under cover of earthworks and lay still through the day, recov- 
ering from the losses, rather, recovering from the grievous sense 
of the losses, which had befallen us in the three closing hours of 
the preceding day. 

Some casualties occurred on the 20th. I recall Captain 
John A. Norris of the 98th O. V. I., afterward in civil life known 
as Colonel Norris, as one who suffered. He ventured a little 
way up a wood road to the left of the Campbell house on a 
private reconnoissance. Some sharpshooter, keeping things 
quiet until the Captain came into full view and in range, broke 
one of his legs by a shot and it was amputated half way between 
the knee and the body. I had been on the same road and 
almost on the same spot at the close of our charge the day be- 
fore. He was a splendid soldier. I had known him before the 
war as a professor in the Cadiz High School, w^hile I was at 
Richmond, and we were close friends from the end of the war 
down to the hour of his death. I drew his will in the closing 
hours of his life, working on it at his bedside from midnight un- 
til six o'clock in the morning, December 22, 1876. His record 
as School Commissioner of Ohio and as Pension Agent at Co- 
lumbus were admirable. He died from overwork, January 19, 
1877. 

The firing was kept up in a scattering sort of way until 
night. The enemy had suffered as well as ourselves and they 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 309 

needed a rest and a fresh breath. Beside, the situation was 
growing in interest and excitement further up Peach Tree 
Creek. The sounds of conflict floated down to us through the 
day. 

The Campbell house was torn down to make a bridge across 
the creek for troops and especially for the artillery. When the 
dusk came down in the evening the bridge was completed and 
several pieces of artillery were quietly brought over and drag- 
ged up the point farthest from the site of the Campbell house. 
Embrasures were made for the guns in the earthworks and they 
were carefully and neatly screened by branches carefully placed 
over them so as not to excite attention. There were, I think, 
three guns of Barnett's battery in this position when day broke 
on the 21st. The enemy, wholly ignorant of the thunder that 
lay behind the mask, began pecking away wdth their rifles. Wait- 
ing, waiting patiently, until the morning was fairly and clearly 
open, our men, all in the secret and guarding it sacredly, stayed 
close under cover of the works and making such breakfast as they 
could, without returning the rifle fire, were given a picnic by the 
roar of the concealed Napoleons and the Confederates were 
given an effective surprise. It was natural that we should en- 
joy the situation as the twelve-pounders made the lives of the 
enemy in their shallow w^orks — stretched across a hillside, say 
from three hundred to four hundred yards away and on higher 
ground than our position — perfectly miserable and the lines sent 
up an appreciative cheer. The rebels had no artillery that could 
compete with the guns served with the usual speed, precision 
and skill of "Battery I," and it had its own way in that commu- 
nity. The little "journal entry" I made at the close of that day 
expressed the character of the work clearly, if it was tersely and 
half profanely done. 

"Artillery brought up. Enemy caught — a soldier would 
say — hell." 

He could not stand it another day. so that on the 22d of 
July, 1864, we were again on the move toward Atlanta. 

As we stood to-day where those guns had been planted I 
imagined, somewhat as I had done at Cloud's hill, that I could 
hear the reverberations from their discharges rolling across the 



210 Fifty-second O. Y. I. 

valley and among the ridges of Peach Tree ; could see the wagon 
train moving along the road which lay, and still lies, along the 
side hill beyond the creek ; could see the breastworks lined with 
blue coats ; could query as to how our horses and servants, be- 
yond the creek, behind some ridge, were faring and how the 
boys in hospital further away, nursing their wounds, were pro- 
gressing. Those who were able to bear the journey were sent 
by rail to some hospital in the rear and after a battle their line 
stretched from the big tent in the field all the way to the com- 
fortable home of wife or mother ''in God's country." The corn 
ground in the bottom, over which w^e charged, is now in wheat. 
The hedge, which ran along the edge of the field at our left from 
the little bridge up toward the Campbell house — to the foot of 
the ridge — is there still, apparently unchanged. No doubt it 
has been trimmed back again and again. I asked Mr. Campbell 
if it was, in fact, the same hedge, and he said it was. Mrs. 
Campbell, a true southern woman — she would pardon me for 
saying, with true Yankee wit — had joined our group and gone 
from their present house, built since the war, over to the point. 
Her husband was not at home when we made our call in 1864. 
She was living in the house with their three small children and 
by the exigencies and dangers of war was driven to flee with her 
little ones, with a little meal and a few other provisions, to her 
father — a Confederate surgeon — living in Atlanta, the day we 
crossed the creek. Of him are told stories greatly to the credit 
of his large, human heart. For example, when solicited, in hos- 
pital, to attend first to wounded Confederates and leave the 
Yankee wounded till afterward, he paralyzed the soliciting rebel 
officer, by a withering look and the information that neither his 
profession nor his humanity could brook such discrimination. 
"These men are all my brothers." It was an extinguisher. And 
how his daughter enjoyed giving us this instance of her father's 
nobility of nature ! 

Mrs. C. said she never saw her house again. When she 
came back she found that our men had torn it down to bridge 
the creek and there are portions of it still sticking in the earth 
at the edge of the water. I made the best apology I could, un- 
der the circumstances, for the impoliteness of my comrades in 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 211 

taking down her house, in her absence and without her leave, 
placing the act on the true ground — the necessity of the situa- 
tion. We could not leave our guns behind, in fact, we had im- 
mediate use for them on this side and there was no other ma- 
terial at hand out of which to build a bridge promptly ! 

Hien Mrs. C. suggested that after she went to Atlanta, upon 
one occasion, at great risk, she volunteered to carry a supply of 
water to some needy soldiers on the line and as she started along 
the street on her return — with a good-natured twinkle in her 
eye, "perhaps you were the officer who ordered it" — the Yan- 
kees blazed away at her with their guns. I had to deny any 
such unchivalric conduct as ever ordering men to fire on a lady 
and to withhold my approval of such a thing in even such a case 
as she detailed where she was furnishing aid and comfort to the 
enemy. I found while Mrs. C. and Mrs. H., a little way off, 
talked of the war and of their common Methodism and its inter- 
ests, that I could locate orchard and fences and the hillside 
spring, where many of the men drank that afternoon, quite 
accurately, because Mr. Campbell approved my suggestion, or 
answered my leading cpiestion in the affirmative, in every 
instance. Any of the boys going on the ground now would re- 
call the old scene with distinctness. The woods and fields an,d 
trees and bushes and orchard and house and outbuildings and 
garden have all been changed in the lapse of time, more or less, 
yet the rugged outlines of hill and valley and stream and roads 
and hedge and bushes remain to suggest the full picture as it 
appeared that Ji-dy afternoon. While we still stood on the point 
and walked about the crest and talked of those days the very 
hour of the charge came and, as at Cheatham hill, I had the land- 
scape bathed in the same sunlight, touched with the golden 
sheen at the same angle that impressed the l)eauties and dangers 
of the scenery upon the tablets of memory when the music of 
life, "Fcstin, heavenly swain," was young. 

At last, our lingering on the little field came to an end and 
regretfully, for these were very interesting and agreeable friends, 
we returned to the Campbell home and our carriage. Bidding 
good-by, we were driven back to Mr. Aloore's home. His in- 
telligence and cordiality placed us under very great obligations. 



212 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Such a man must be a power anywhere and it is safe to say that 
the world is better and wiser because Mr. Moore has lived — is 
living — in it. He has been north, more than once, since the war 
and knows our people ; he has lived south all his life and, of 
course, knows its people. He is one of those choice spirits, in 
this respect, whose knowledge and influence must always, to 
the end of his life, tend toward the breaking down of the old mid- 
dle wall of partition between the two sections. He proudly re- 
joices in our patent of nobility the enviable title of "American 
citizen." Gathering from his wide front lawn, which is in per- 
fect order and keeping, though unfenced. a bouquet of flowers 
for Mrs. H., receiving our thanks for his kindness and courtesy, 
he bade us good-by. 

During the war he was and still is the proprietor of Moore's 
mill, a little way below the point of our crossing, which mill fig- 
ures in some of the official reports of officers, I think, on each 
side, with reference to the operations near the mouth of Peach 
Tree on July 19th, and for many years has been postmaster of 
Bolton, located on the south side of the Chattahoochee, where 
the railroad from Marietta to Atlanta crosses it, near his home. 

On our return to the city our driver went round the reser- 
voir which is some two miles up from the pumping station. It 
is a very considerable lake into which boils from the supply pipe 
an immense column of water under the operation of the pumping 
engines at the junction of the Chattahoochee and Peach Tree. 

It is settled that we shall not be in a rush leaving for home, 
though one business matter has found me here and seems to be 
pressing in its nature. If I could spare the time, otherwise, I 
should continue to travel for a month yet. To-morrow will see 
one point, at least, and perhaps two points, of interest visited, 
and if two, then the trip will be rounded up to my complete sat- 
isfaction. 

A few minutes before we stepped on the train last evening 
a Confederate veteran — a Major — introduced himself as "one 
of those aforetime rebels," and entered at once, after the fashion 
of many old soldiers, upon a talk about the days of the war. He 
had fought four full vears for the Confederacv and is now en- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 213 

joying- the evening of life as a citizen of Marietta. The conver- 
sation was frank, cordial and interesting. His apparent satis- 
faction with, and acquiescence in, the result of the conflict was 
thorough and genuine, and his pride in the American soldier 
sincere and enthusiastic. 



3M Fifty-second O. V. I. 

Atlanta, Georgia, May 25, 1897. 

At 8 :30 this morning we took seats in the train for Jones- 
boro, twenty-one miles down the Central of Georgia, and in an 
hour stepped out on the platform at the little town of three thou- 
sand inhabitants. It has grown since the war. We ascertained 
last evening that we could run down, have about one hour's time 
and take the train coming north and be in Atlanta for early din- 
ner. Immediately upon reaching the platform I inc[uired for a 
liveryman and was directed to Mr. W. T. Sims, who aided me in 
various ways, very intelligently. 

The two points referred to at the close of yesterday's notes 
were "the Sandtown road" and "Jonesboro.'' Following the 
order of time, we should have gone to the road first, but two con- 
siderations required that Jonesboro come first. The one was 
the running, or connection, of the trains ; no good connection, 
or at all, for that matter, is made in the afternoon. The other 
was that if we were to see but one of them that one must be 
Jonesboro as the more important. I remembered quite accu- 
rately the distance from the field of battle to the town and cal- 
culated that with a good team, promptly brought around upon 
our arrival, we could make the drive ovit to the point where our 
charge was made September 1, 1864, and return in time for the 
noon train to the city. 

A few words with Mr. Sims showed that the thing could 
quite readily be accomplished, although he good naturedly in- 
sisted that they would be glad to have us stay over night and 
make them a visit. Around came one of his carriages and a 
driver. While the team was in course of being hitched, Mr. S. 
brought and introduced Captain Jesse Anthony of the 30th 
Georgia Infantry, who was in the Jonesboro fight. This was 
good luck, as the Captain consented to ride to the field with us 
and act as guide. We were driven rapidly up the railroad to- 
ward Atlanta about one mile, where we came to the edge of the 
woods, running ofif west at right angles with the railroad, in 
which the enemy were posted behind temporary breastworks. 
I inquired of the Captain as to the time when they took up their 
positions about Jonesboro, and he replied that it was in the night 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 215 

of August 31st and the morning of September 1st. It was 
against this line that we saw Morgan's 1st Brigade and part of 
Mitchell's 2d Brigade of our division charge, at first, unsuccess- 
fully, while we were moving against the line and the battery at 
the angle in the open field further to the right. The exposure 
of the entire division was of the most open and pronounced 
•character as it advanced on the enemy's line through the last 
year's cornfield. At the right, where our brigade moved, the 
land was somewhat broken by gutters and small gorges which 
disturbed the aim as we moved over them. I am a little ahead 
of my story, for the carriage has not yet reached the angle 
against which we charged. Driving west along the edge of the 
woods which seems to be unchanged, and along which still runs 
the line of Confederate earthworks, the Captain conducted us to 
a point in the line back in the woods where a battery had been 
stationed in their line. This point, he said, was carried bv our 
assault, Ijut I could not make the bearings fit. The statement 
that it was carried by the assault was true, but the guns that were 
worked on us, during the charge, were not behind that line. 
Leaving the carriage and walking a little way out in front of the 
battery position, which he pointed out, all the conditions of the 
Jonesboro battle were filled. I was in the opening through the 
timber as it appeared to us at the position of the enemy against 
which our brigade charged. Evidently, when the Confederates 
found us coming from the direction, which our division fol- 
lowed, they pushed their guns forward out of the regular line of 
works and tlirew up the temporary line in the open field. It was 
on this spot where I took my stand for the hasty review. 

On that September afternoon in 1864, we made our way, 
down the hillside, in yonder woods, across the valley to the left, 
heading this way. At the upper edge of those woods, sixty rods 
back of the point, which can be seen from the position of the 
rebel battery. General Sherman passed us attended by a single 
orderly. T saluted; he returned the salute, with a word — 
"Major" — and rode on along our line. When we were down 
almost into the valley the enemy's artillery began to play on our 
columns. One of my ofificers — T must not now name him under 
the maxim ;;//(// niorfiiiini nisi honum — when the guns Ijegan to 



216 FiFTV-SECOND O. V. I. 

speak, stopped by the wayside for a moment, with the statement 
that he was ill and must rest a little. No better camp soldier 
ever drilled a company or kept the books, accounts and office 
business of a regiment. He had been in the w^ar from its out- 
break and had managed to pull through all the tight places 
without making any special observations one way or the other 
necessary. Here we were, almost without warning, marching 
out of the woods into the open where no dodging could do any 
good and where every man must move under the open inspec- 
tion of all his comrades. We crossed the little creek and under 
cover of ground in front and on right and left of us climbed a 
steep ascent of fifty rods to the flat top of a knoll on which there 
then was, and still is, a fringe of pines toward the enemy, behind 
which fringe as a sort of screen the brigade was formed. Our 
horses were left under the hill. We waited for some time, so 
that the lines on our left as far as the railroad and beyond might 
take up their positions. The plan was for that portion of one 
of the corps east of the railroad to move down so as to be prac- 
tically in rear of Jonesboro. If our line succeeded, this would 
make sure the capture of a large portion of the enemy's forces in 
line about the town. This column was somehow delayed and 
never did reach the position assigned, although it made the ex- 
tension of our left beyond the railroad and participated in the 
engagement. From the knoll we could see the rebel line along 
the edge of the woods and the battery in the open field in front, 
where I stood to-day. At last the movement along our whole 
line began. On the left, as far as the railroad, the blue bat- 
talions emerged from the woods in which they had been under 
cover and started across the wnde cornfield. ( )ur simultaneous 
movement took us down the slope, over a gully, up over a roll- 
ing stretch of cornfield and down to the right so that when we 
started directly up hill for the battery, a little wooded, or rather 
brushy, gorge broke off two or three of my right companies and 
trailed most of the right wing of the regiment along the left side 
of the fringe of bushes which pointed directly to the battery, 
about a hundred and twenty yards away. The guns were work- 
ing on us and my men were trailing arms, making double quick 
time toward the battery. A shell exploded just as it left one of 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 217 

the guns and a fragment, the size of a man's hand, struck my 
left knee with disabhng force. It was about seventy yards from 
the battery to the point where I fell alongside of the little bush 
margined gorge or ravine. At the instant, I called to Captain 
Hutcliison to take command of the regiment, but I was in error 
as Captain Rothacker ranked him. They corrected the error 
and the line swept up to the battery and was in at its capture. 
The men immediately turned the pieces and began firing at the 
retreating enemy. There was a quantity of loose powder and 
unexploded shells lying about and presently one of the guns by 
its flash ignited the powder and an explosion followed, which 
killed and injured several of the men. Among the former was 
Robert N. Mercer of Company B, who was horribly burned in 
the explosion. Mercer Avas a short, stout young fellow, re- 
markable for the size of the knapsack, which he always carried 
and for his faithful, staying qualities as a soldier. He was quiet, 
patient, dutiful, and never known to complain or grumble at any 
demand made on him for any duty as a soldier. 

When I fell from the blow of the fragment of shell, I was 
assisted out of the way of the men and into the scant shelter of a 
tall stump which stood six or eight feet away. 

Michael Madden of Company K stopped beside me, having 
caught me as I reeled, and as soon as the circulation began to 
relieve the numbness in my left leg, he supported me back to the 
knoll from which we had started on the charge. Minies were 
still flying when we started back, but after while the night came 
on and the defeated rebels, being pushed back, were too far joff 
for effective work, or ceased firing. I was in the field hospital 
that night and part of the next day, but moved with the regi- 
ment, though obliged for a whole month to mount my horse 
from the right side, which was the wrong side, because I could 
not bend the left knee to put that foot in the stirrup. 

Colonel Dilworth commanding the brigade and Captain E. 
L. Anderson of the brigade stafif were wounded. 

Now. let me look at the approach to this field, the field itself 
and the engagement, through the glasses I used some years ago 
when a controversy or question arose among some of my com- 
rades over some of the points involved in movements and results 



318 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

after I fell in front of the battery ; in other words, shifting posi- 
tion from the Confederate line looking north and northwest, let 
us adopt Uncle Mose's idea and come "On de ground by de wav 
we all come." 

In that description I first quoted the paragraph relating to 
the battle, which will appear a little later on in the long letter of 
September 14, 1861, and then proceeded : 

It is my distinct recollection that "Bob. Mercer," a member 
of Company B, was killed while assisting in the loading and 
firing of one of the captured guns. Some ammunition had been 
spilled and scattered on the ground and the boys did not notice 
that there was loose powder lying just in front of the muzzle of 
the piece which was ignited by the flash of one of the discharges 
and produced an explosion of some sort in which Mercer was 
fearfully and fatally burned. I think he expired on the ground, 
if he was not killed instantly. His remarkable quality was his 
faithful, patient endurance. The regiment had no better sol- 
dier, though a very unpretentious man. 1 can see him now with 
my mind's eye, as he appeared that day. 

Jonesboro remains one of the vivid pictures on memory's 
walls after nearly thirty years. The day was filled with some 
striking points in my experience. Back in the woods, a mile 
before we came in sight of the "field," General Sherman, with a 
single orderly, passed across the road from our left to our right 
immediately in front of my horse. I saluted and he returned 
the salute, with a (juick jerk — the General w-as in a hurry; he 
knew more about what was beyond that wood and what was 
about to happen than we did. 

We wound, with the road, around from northeasterly to 
easterly and presently a southeasterly direction down a wooded 
slope, our general direction leaving the ascent to our right and 
the descent to the left. There was an occasional halt. We were 
not in line of battle, but following the wagon road as though on 
an ordinary march. Presently the air began to fill with the 
sense and stir of a coming fight. We were still sidling down the 
road, but with only a forest limited view. An officer of the 
regiment — agitated, evidently greatly frightened — poor fellow, 
the onlv one of "ours" I ever saw show the feather, even for a 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 219 

moment, comes hastily up to my right side as we were moving 
slowly down, almost out of the woods, an occasional gun baying 
the declining sun — "Major, I am too sick to go any further." 
Surprised and confused by the thought that one I knew so well 
and who had no superior in quality as a camp ofificer should 
make such an exhibition, at such a moment, I looked down into 
his pale face and mentally querying. "Can this man be a cow- 
ard? and is that the reason he has been off on missions so often 
during engagements this summer?" and then thinking, "I must 
not wrong him, perhaps he is ill," I said, "If you are sick and 
can go no further, you will have to fall out." A quarter of a mile, 
or less distance, brought us out into the open, at the foot of the 
hill. Facing southeast and east of southeast, on the opposite 
elevation, a hundred rods away, was a line, which strongly sug- 
gested that our friends, the enemy, were lying in wait for us be- 
hind temporary breastworks, rails and brush and logs and, per- 
haps, some earth, and at some points within the screen of strips 
of timber. Other little valleys, two or three of them, debouch 
at the point where we struck the lowlands. Slowly, we move 
across the opening to the east, passing over a stream, which 
runs toward the south, and make our way through cleared fields 
to the top of the hill directly east of and opposite the one we had 
descended, passing over a rail fence just before reaching the 
crest. The ground as we went up was a little benchy, broken 
and uneven. At the crest, we discover, on looking east, open 
fields to the railroad, which was a rifle shot away ; to the north 
of those open fields, not many rods to the left of the line of 
vision, as we looked toward the railroad, was a line of timber ; 
just beyond the railroad, and running north and south with it, 
was also a line of timber. Immediately southeast of us, as we 
looked toward Jonesboro and at the point of the hill up which 
we had just marched, within, say, two hundred yards of us, was 
a little grove of trees which, as we lay on the crest, cut ofif our 
view of part of the enemy's line. Waiting a few minutes. Colonel 
Dilworth, commanding the brigade, sends an order for me to 
detail three companies from the 52d to skirmish past the grove, 
on the left and out to the southeast through a wide rolling corn- 
field. My report, presently copied, shows that I sent A. F, and 



220 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

D Companies. Directly south of iis, across part of the common 
valley mentioned, is a higher wooded point, continuing south in 
a ridge, behind and on which troops of another corps are sup- 
posed to be moving into position. Among them was the 30th 
Ohio in which my friend, Captain J. W. McElravy, was that day, 
as always, at his post, but for once with no fighting to do and 
with full view of our assaulting lines, "a looker on in Venice," or, 
to change the figure, the occupant of a box seat at that after- 
noon's theatrical performance. Artillery kept up its thunder 
from the time we sighted the rebel line and here and there, now 
and then, were spurts of nmsketry firing as skirmish lines col- 
lided to the right and left and in front of us. In a few minutes, 
blue coats appear on the railroad ; they deploy our way ; our 
horses are left behind the hill, for it is growing hot on top of it; 
the brigade moves out past the grove, in battle line, the 52d on 
the left, next Mitchell's Brigade ; the line Avest of the railroad 
moves south ; we enter the corn just over the crest as we move 
southeast ; we go down the slope, cross a gully and, over rolling 
ground, begin the gradual upward assault on the enemy, at the 
crest, say two hundred and hfty or three hundred yards from 
the gully. The line to the left of us, Mitchell's and Morgan's 
Brigades, on higher, nearly level, ground, stretching directly 
toward the railroad and joining the troops deployed across it, 
moves down, but suffers heavily from the fire of the enemy, con- 
cealed in the edge of the timber, which stretches from the rail- 
road out almost to the point at which our brigade is directly 
aimed, where a rebel battery is planted in the open field, some 
of the regiments near the railroad being checked and their more 
eager men driven back slightly by the weight of the rebel fire. 
The troops between us and the railroad halt half way, or a little 
more, across the cornfield ; we lie down at the same time for a 
moment. The air is full of the sounds of battle. Presently we 
move on ; at one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards from 
the enemy's line the rush begins. In the alignment the 52d is 
thrown against the end of a little gully pointing right down from 
the rebel battery along which gully for a distance of perhaps 
sixty yards grew brush and undergrowth with a few small trees 
— a spouty piece of ground. This broke the right of the regi- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 221 

ment slightly and made the men trail along the east side of swale. 
A little more than half way up this gully and at the distance of 
seventy paces from the battery, 1 was wounded in the left knee 
by a fragment of shell ; a dead tree trunk, perhaps twenty feet 
high, was at my left. The blow staggered me round to the left 
side facing the tree and 1 fell into the arms of Michael Madden, 
a corporal of Company K, who set me down on the safe side of 
the rotten stump. As Captain Hutchison of F Company passed 
me, I shouted, "Captain, take command of the regiment." In 
a moment, I recalled the fact that Captain Rothacker of G Com- 
pany was senior officer, and directed some one to correct the 
order. I learned afterward that the two captains corrected it 
themselves by the time they reached the head of the swale. Mad- 
den staid with me until the numbness began to pass off so that I 
could move my leg. While I was still sitting on the ground and 
within the time that men could run up hill seventy paces the 
regiment captured a portion of the battery upon which we had 
charged. ]\Iercer, to whom I have referred, jumped over the 
works and received the surrender of a rebel artilleryman, at the 
point of his bayonet. 

The wound I received showed the fragment of shell flying 
directly from the battery in front. The shell must have ex- 
ploded at the very muzzle of the gun. 

I still have the light blue "re-inforced" cavalry pants and 
the drawers, which I was then wearing, through both of which 
the shell cut, as neatly as could have been done with a knife, 
making a hole in the form of a right angle, one inch on each 
side. It cut a corresponding hole in the flesh and the bruise, 
the size of a man's hand, turned black as my hat. The fragment 
struck a glancing blow and passed between my knees, other- 
wise, it would have shattered the joint. 

The general movement converged the lines of the second 
and third brigades toward the point upon which the 52d charged 
directly. It was this fact that resulted in the commingling of 
the men to which my report refers. Although I was still at the 
point where I was woimded, in the care of Madden, I did not see 
the line go over the works, being somewhat interested in the ef- 
fort to overcome the shock of the blow which T had iust received. 



222 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

I was taken off the field after the engagement was practically 
ended, although minies were still singing through the corn- 
stalks about us as I was taken back to the crest of the ridge from 
W'hich we started on the charge. 

That evening or next morning I talked with Captain Roth- 
acker, Captain Summers, Major James and others about the de- 
tails of the action at the works and after their capture. I learned 
that little "Bob" Mercer was one of the first three or four men — 
if he was not the first man — over the works at the battery, cap- 
tured a rebel artilleryman standing to his gun and sent him 
across the works to the rear. Afterward, Mercer was helping 
to handle one of the captured guns, turned on the enemy as they 
went flying across the field toward the town, when powder which 
had been spilled on the ground from broken cases during the en- 
gagement was, in some way, ignited and an explosion of ammu- 
nition occurred burning him fatally. I am not sure, but think 
he was also wounded by a shot from the retreating enemy. At 
all events, he died near that gun. 

Captain Summers, H Company, had helped to manage the 
guns and took intense delight in telling about their capture and 
the feat of turning them on the "skedaddling rebels." Those 
were his words. That the officers and men of the third brigade 
were the first to lay hands on the left section of that battery was, 
I supposed, too well established ever to be gainsaid. Such com- 
mon property was the entire capture of guns and the glory of the 
exploit that I am surprised at the discrimination in General Mor- 
gan's report in wdiich the first — his own — and the second — 
Mitchell's brigades — are given exclusive credit for the capture.. 
The third brigade was never a favorite with him. 

Captain Rothacker reported to me orally the carrying of 
the works and the capture of the guns in our front and turning 
them on the enemy and I remember talking with him and some 
of the men of B and G Companies specially about the death of 
Mercer. 

The few repetitions from giving these separate accounts, 
written at separate times, cannot, I think, grow tedious and, 
therefore, the time is not taken to eliminate them by any sort 
recast of the story. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 323 

On the 4th of September, I had immediate charge of Gen- 
eral Govan and sixteen hundred rebel prisoners captured in our 
movement against the railroad below Atlanta, which movement 
compelled the enemy to destroy war material and evacuate that 
city. Govan was disposed to complain that he was not put un- 
der the control of a general officer. 

The walking was just as easy under a field officer of my 
rank and I had the pleasure of walking him and his sixteen hun- 
dred men to the gate of the Atlanta prison, where many a poor 
fellow of ours had suffered and many of them died, or been 
killed. 

There was no mistaking the locality of the rebel battery, or 
the knoll on which we formed for the charge, or the swells of the 
open field over which we moved, or the little valley or gorge in, 
or beside, which I fell. Its green bushes are just such as skirted 
the little spring run, the day of the battle and as will skirt it long 
after every man and officer who took part has passed away, if the 
method of farming the land is not changed. 

This was our last engagement before the beginning of the 
March to the Sea and was the end of the Atlanta campaign — 
from Chattanooga to Jonesboro one hundred and fifty-nine 
miles, a long and bloody way. 

We were driven back to the station over the fields crossed 
by the enemy in the flight from the line, which we carried in our 
charge. The cotton plants are in no danger from the soldiers" 
tread and after we were driven about over Jonesboro and 
alighted at the station the ten minutes wait for the train was 
made interesting by one of the most cordial receptions by the 
bar of the little city that any man ever enjoyed. A half dozen 
lawyers were gathered at the station to go to Atlanta on busi- 
ness and somehow Mr. Sims had learned that I was a member 
of the bar. Its Masonry had full play. Lawyers have a sort of 
kinship whenever they meet and no one would have supposed 
that sword had been lifted against sword by any one of the group 
of chatty, jovial fellows, or their immediate ancestors. Com- 
raderie and good fellowship filled the ten minutes, and I talked 
with some of them on the wav into the citv. Mr. Sims is ar- 



224 P^IFTY-SECOND O. V. I. 

quainted, in a business way, with the Columbus Buggy Com- 
pany people and sent his best wishes to them. 

A short distance below Atlanta is McPherson Barracks, 
containing, I think, two hundred acres of ground. I had over- 
looked the fact that it was located on the Central Georgia initil 
Mr. Wright of the Jonesboro bar called my attention to it. 

The rifle pits, the earthworks, the streams and fields and 
woods, the hills and valleys remain, one may say, much the same, 
but the conditions of life are mightily changed for the better. 
The wrinkled front of maddened war is smoothed away and in 
its place is the smile of peace everywhere. I can scarcely re- 
alize at times that my own memory is not afflicted by some 
dreadful nightmare when it tells me that I saw these conflicts of 
life and death and participated in them. It was and is not a 
dream ; the dread reality will never l^e more than half told, even 
though the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion should 
reach two hundred volumes, and historians, drawing on that and 
other rich mines, should continue to turn out histories until the 
crack of doom. 

I am reminded that the 71st O. V. I., which had the unfortu- 
nate experiences at Pittsburgh Landing and at Clarksville, Ten- 
nessee, in April and September, 1862. bore a very honorable 
part in the skirmishing and fighting resulting from the pursuit 
of the enemy below Jonesboro on the second and probably third 
days of September, 1864, under command of its new Colonel, 
Henry K. AlcConnell. Lieutenant Colonel George W. An- 
drews resigned when Captain McConnell was promoted over 
him and so failed of the preferment for which we had planned. 
The promotion occurred May 30, 1863 ; the resignation was 
dated June 3, 1863. 

When the facts were fully known, touching the Clarksville 
surrender, the orders cashiering Colonel Rodney Mason and 
dismissing his line officers were revoked by the War Depart- 
ment and they were all honorably discharged. 

Hurried as the Jonesboro visit was it gave us great satisfac- 
tion and left but one point to be visited to complete, in a way, 
the work of the southern trip, seeing- it is not to embrace any 
campaigning farther south at present. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 225 

Pursuant to order Messrs. Milam and Miller sent round a 
carriage about 3 p. m. and we were driven down the Sandtown 
road. My recollection fixed the distance about five miles out 
from the old city. At four and a half miles I found a situation 
on each side of the road which corresponded very nearly with 
that of which I was in search, but what had become of the earth- 
works which we had built. They were wholly wanting. Driv- 
ing further down the road, we passed some works which were too 
close to the road to be ours, although they had a familiar look. 
A half mile beyond was six miles from Atlanta and on unfamiliar 
ground. I conversed at this point with an old Confederate sol- 
dier, who emphasized particular attention to the works last men- 
tioned. We drove back and sure enough they were ours. The 
trouble with the recognition, going out, was that the road has 
been relocated more than half way from the point where it ran 
along behind our line down toward the line and its direction with 
reference to the works has been somewhat altered. Another 
item which tended to confusion is the growth of timber in front 
of the earthworks. I located the old road and then the situation 
became perfectly clear. 

Now, see the journal for 1864, August 5-August 12, inclu- 
sive. The 7th describes the crossing of the Sandtown road at the 
spot indicated. It was an ugly piece of business and artillery and 
musketry made life very insecure even after we had constructed 
heavy earthworks and protection against enfilading shots. I re- 
member one day that a shell passed vmder the headlog and liter- 
ally destroyed the head of one of the men, scattering his brains 
over his whole company. We were able, I found, to make the 
other fellows very uncomfortable by diligent and careful marks- 
manship and I gave orders for full rations of lead to the enemy. 
They were strictly obeyed. After while "old Jimmy Morgan" — 
now of Quincy, 111., if living — sent me word from some place in 
the rear not to permit the men to do any more firing than neces- 
sary, not to waste ammunition. I sent, with my compliments to 
the old General, word that ammunition was not being wasted; 
that there was no getting along with the other fellows- except by 
making it dangerous to expose a finger; that by diligence my 
men could silence both their rifles and battery, and asked for more 



32(5 Fifty-second O. \\ I. 

ammunition. I politely suggested that if the Cleneral doubted 
my judgment, a personal visit to the line would satisfy him. He 
did not come, but the ammunition did, with the apologetic state- 
ment that he had no doubt I was right about it. only desired care- 
ful scrutiny of the work of the men and would leave the whole 
matter to my judgment. That was August 9th, the day we ex- 
pended thirteen thoitsand rounds of ammunition. We finally 
shot them into silence. I think it was on the 11th that Otho Lin- 
ton's head was blown to pieces. He was an excellent soldier of 
Captain Mansfield's E Company. His body rests in the Na- 
tional Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia. 

August 10th, shows in my journal an expression which I 
shall not undertake to make clearer, except by saying the verb 
used — "beat" — was not used according to Voltaire's doctrine to 
conceal thought, but was used not to disclose, but to recall a fact. 

I must at this point mention the experience which I seem to 
be having mentally in recalling the exact appearance of these men 
wdiom I have been mentioning as killed or wounded. There 
seems to have been something in going and writing over the old 
scenes to sharpen the faculty of memory so that features and per- 
sons of the men come before my mind in a strangely distinct man- 
ner — certainly much more distinctly than they would have come 
from the simple mention of their names before I left home. The 
power and influence of reflection no doubt aid in producing the 
result and the efifect of the law of association is in a measure the 
same. ( )tho Linton, "Bob" Mercer, each one I have had occa- 
sion to name and many not named, who have come into my 
thoughts have stood before my "mind's eye" as they stood before 
the actual eyes in the "days of battle," or in the quieter camping 
ground. 

I saw the spot in the road on which Lieutenant Ad. Knecht 
of A Company fell with an ankle broken by a shell just as the line 
was clearing the roadway. I saw him writhe and reel and fall. 
Amputation of the foot was necessary and I think he has been a 
resident of Dayton ever since the war. I walked along the crest 
of the works, which are in a remarkable state of preservation, 
stood above the spot where Linton was killed, looked out through 
the young pines, which now stand in what was then clear land 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 'i'i7 

and passed in imperfect review the conflicts on both sides of the 
Sandtown road. "Imperfect," I say imperfect because it is im- 
possible to recall all of the details of such a struggle, even on a 
single acre of ground. We had made two lines of earthworks on 
the west side of the road and not far from it in coming up to the 
road August 5, and G. T. H. Montgomery of G. CY>mpany, after- 
ward Sheriff of Jefferson County, now living at Toronto, above 
Steubenvillc, lost an arm on one of these days. 

At Rome, Georgia, the afternoon we moved on that 
place. May 17, 1864, I saw a solid shot ricocheting through 
the open woods toward our line. It was the first cannon 
ball I ever saw in its flight. The second was a shell fired from 
the rebel battery after we crossed the Sandtown road. Cap- 
tain Hutchison and myself had been down at our first line west 
of the road, and had started back up a woods path toward the 
front. It had just begun to grow dusk. A crash through the 
trees over the front line made us look up. A shell that instant 
struck the road at the end of the path and again a few feet above 
me it dipped into the ground. I saw it strike each time and fol- 
lowed its movements so as to step out of the path to the right and 
let it pass, while the Captain, who was following me perhaps 
twenty feet behind, stepped to the left of the path to avoid it and 
we both turned to watch it boimding h\ active, short leaps two 
hundred or three hundred yards down through the woods to the 
rear. It would have 1)owled us both down, but for the dodging. 
It was not a safe experiment to attempt to stop a cannon shot 
even when it seemed to be almost wholly spent. Its power to 
kill or cripple was delusive until it took a dead rest. 

We were driven directly to the city before sunset and so 
ended the inspection of battle and camp grounds for the present. 
To-morrow at 4:30 p. m. we shall start home and the next day, 
sometime, with good luck, shall see fliaf desirable camjMug 
ground and its campers, dearly beloved. 

If I can find the time after we return, I shall make a little 
sketch of the movements of the regiment from the date of its 
march with General Govan and his fellow citizens to the Atlanta 
prison, September 4, 1.SG4, until the 16th of November next en- 



228 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

suing', when we left the ruins of that city, early in the morning, 
on the famous March to the Sea. 

The official report of the Atlanta campaign, found in War 
Records, A'ol. 72, pp. 727-731, is as follows: 

"Headquarters Fifty-Second O. V. I., 

Atlanta, Ga., September 7, 1864. 

Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part 
taken by this command in the campaign now closing: 

On the morning of May 3, this regiment, moving with the brigade, 
left Lee and Gordon's Mills, Ga., and in the evening encamped at Ring- 
gold, Ga. It remained near this point until the morning of the 7th, 
when, at daylight, with Companies A, B, and F as skirmishers, it headed 
the column moving by the direct road upon Tunnel Hill, then held by 
the enemy. The skirmishers struck the enemy's vedettes at the distance 
of two miles from Ringgold and a desultory firing was kept up until 
within a mile of Tunnel Hill, when a brisk skirmish took place, the ene- 
my's force consisting of 50 to 100 cavalry or mounted infantry. Com- 
panies G and H were sent to efYect a junction with the skirmish line 
moving in advance of a column that was following a road on our left. 
The junction was effected. I was directed by General Davis in person 
to move my skirmish line by the right flank one-half mile and skirmish 
the woods toward the point where the rebel battery had opened. The 
battery had been planted on the road leading through the gap to the 
right toward Buzzard Roost and near the gap. When the line reached 
the point I received an order from Colonel McCook to recall the 
skirmishers, and immediately received one from General Davis to 
skirmish over the ridge. Before reaching the crest a staff oiBcer from 
General Palmer directed the line recalled. The result proved dangerous 
to General Davis and staff, as, riding a short distance beyond where the 
skirmish line had halted, they were fired upon by a squad of the enemy 
concealed near by. The regiment remained quartered near the church in 
Tunnel Hill until the evening of the !)th, when it joined the brigade in 
front of Buzzard Roost. At dark on the 10th seven companies, under 
cominand of Lieutenant Colonel C. W. Clancy, relieved the skirmishers 
of our First Brigade on Rocky Face; the three remaining companies 
lay with the brigade in reserve. From daylight until dark of the 11th 
the fire of the enemy was galling upon the skirmishers. At night cf 
the 11th the line was relieved and encamped two miles in rear. Taking 
up the line of march with the brigade on the morning of the 12th, about 
daylight of the 13th, the regiment reached the mouth of Snake Creek 
Gap. In the evening, after marching in a zigzag direction for a distance 
of four or five miles, a position about a mile from the defenses of Resaca 
was taken up. Early on the morning of the 14th the movement upon 
the works of the enemy began; during the day, the regiment, with the 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 229 

brigade, was supporting the forces engaged in an assault upon the 
works; at night moved to a ridge a short distance to the right and forti- 
fied. The regiment occupied this position until the morning of the IGth, 
when it moved to the moulh of Snake Creek Gap, at which point knap- 
sacks had been left, and from thence to Rome, at which place it moved 
in support of the Eighty-sixth Illinois and Twenty-second Indiana dur- 
ing the brief engagement on the evening of the 17th. P. M. of the 18th, 
crossed the Oostanaula and fortified in the suburbs of the city against 
an anticipated cavalry attack. Encamping in the suburbs, the regiment 
rested until the morning of the 24th at 6 o'clock, when it marched with 
the brigade toward Dallas, at which place position in line was taken the 
morning of the ■27th. On the night of the 29th the regiment was or- 
dered some distance to the rear and left of the line held by the brigade, 
to cover an opening between two brigades. Temporary fortifications 
were thrown up and at daylight the following morning the regiment re- 
turned to the line of the brigade. P. M. of the 30th, dropped back a mile 
toward Dallas behind temporary works. 

June 1, early in the forenoon, the regiment, with the brigade, 
marched to the left and reached its position between Dallas and Ack- 
worth in the night, relieving a regiment of the Twenty-third Corps upon 
the line. From this position constant skirmishing with the enemy from 
the main works was kept up until the morning of the 4th, when the com- 
mand was moved two or three miles to the left into works of the Twen- 
tieth Corps. Morning of the 6th moved to the left and encamped near 
Ackworth. At 8 a. m. of June 10, moved toward Kenesaw Mountain. 
During the gradual approaches to the mountain of the succeeding ten 
days the regiment threw up intrenchments three times, and Companies 
I, C, H, and E advanced the skirmish line on the 13th. Companies A, 
B, F, and G supported the skirmish line of the Eighty-sixth Illinois on 
the 16th, and advanced to the skirmish line on the 18th. On the 21st 
the regiment threw up works under the mountain. On the 23d the regi- 
ment was ordered to support the skirmish line in a contemplated ad- 
vance to the top of Kenesaw. The advance was not made, and the regi- 
ment returned on the 25th; Companies D, I, and C on the skirmish line 
at the foot of the mountain. Relieved at dusk by the Seventieth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, when the regiment marched two miles to the right 
and encamped in rear of the right of the Fourth Corps. June 27th, at 
7 a. m. the regiment formed the rear line of the brigade, then thrown in 
column of regiments for an assault upon the enemy's works. The as- 
sault was made at 8 a. m., and notwithstanding the withering fire from 
the enemy's guns and the failure to carry the works, together with the 
efforts of frightened and wounded men, to break through the ranks, the 
regiment preserved its unity and alignment widiin thirty yards of the 
works, when ordered to occupy and intrench a second line about thirty 
yards in rear of the position it held when the assault ended. The posi- 



230 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

tion was intrenched immediately, although the troops were constantly 
harassed by sharpshooters from the enemy's works. 

July 3d, the enemy having evacuated their works the night previous, 
the regiment moved through Marietta and encamped about four miles 
south-southeast. At dusk on the 4th we occupied works thrown up in 
front of the enemy by the First Brigade. On the 5th, followed the 
enemy to their last position northwest of the Chattahoochee River and 
threw up earthworks. On the 8th, the regiment was detailed as skir- 
mishers. On the 9th, relieved from the skirmish line. On the 10th, the 
regiment encamped near the Chattahoochee, where it remained until the 
morning of the 18th; crossed the Chattahoochee above Nancy's Creek; 
crossed Nancy's Creek at noon, without opposition, and night in- 
trenched on the northern bank of Peach Tree Creek. In the afternoon 
of the 19th the regiment, under the personal direction of Colonel Dil- 
worth, commanding the brigade, effected the crossing of Peach Tree, 
and only sheltered from the fire of the enemy by a light strip of under- 
growth on each side of the stream. As soon as the entire regiment was 
on the south side of the creek, Companies A, F, H, B, and K were de- 
ployed as skirmishers, as much as possible under cover of the bushes, 
with instructions to halt when the ridge and houses, from 300 to 500 
yards in front, should be carried. At the command the five companies 
leaped from cover, and, as quickly as men could pass over the distance, 
regardless of the fire from twice their number of guns, carried the crest 
with a shout at the success. Lieutenant-Colonel Clancy immediately 
double-quicked the reserve to the right and rear for the purpose of shel- 
tering the reserve. Company A, by his order, was withdrawn from the 
skirmish line, and Companies F, E, and G sent forward on the right. 
Both our flanks were without support at this moment. Orders to move 
the skirmish line forward were sent by the Colonel commanding brigade, 
and as the movement began it was met by the enemy in force, charging 
back upon the line. The weight of their first assault struck the center 
and left of the line, but did not succeed in dislodging us from the houses 
and the crest, although our loss, in proportion to the number engaged, 
was severe in killed, wounded, and missing. The second assault, made 
by at least six rebel regiments, struck and almost completely enveloped 
the right of the skirmish line and the reserve. The line was driven to 
the reserve, and the reserve, by the flank fire and the weight of numbers, 
was forced back to the main line, then formed about fifteen paces in the 
rear of the reserve. At this moment Lieutenant Colonel C. W. Clancy, 
the commanding officer of this regiment from the 1st of May to the 19th 
of July, was taken prisoner, and with him the records from which this 
report for the period mentioned would otherwise have been made were 
lost. The ridge was held and the enemy repulsed. On the '20th the 
regiment intrenched in rear of the Eighty-sixth and One Hundred and 
Twenty-fifth Illinois. On the 22d encamped within two miles of At- 
lanta, on the right of the Marietta road. On the 2Sth the regnnent 
formed the rear guard of a reconnaissance by the division, in rear of the 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 231 

right flank of the Army of the Tennessee. Twenty-ninth, formed part 
of the second Hne, advancing the right flank of the army. At dusk the 
regiment was ordered on the skirmish hne. On the 30th, relieved froni 
skirmish Hne by Thirtieth Ohio Vohinteer Infantry, and moved with 
the brigade division distance to the right. On the 31st, moved on a 
reconnoissance with the brigade to the right and returned. Moving with 
the brigade toward the right on the afternoon of the 4tli and the morn- 
ing of the 6th, the regiment threw up intrenchments, under a heavy fire 
of shells, about 10 a. m. At dusk Companies E, K, G, and B were de 
tailed for skirmish line, and were relieved on the following evening. On 
the 7th the main line was advanced in full view of the enemy's works 
and batteries, the latter playing on the troops freely. The position as- 
signed the regiment at this point exposed it to a direct and enfilading 
fire from both musketry and artillery. Heavy traverses were thrown up 
and just completed by the night of the r2th, when a change of position 
was ordered. It had been impossible to work in daylight, hence the 
length of time required to build such works by men fatigued and 
harassed, lighting from dawn till eve each day. On the morning of the 
13th the regiment was assigned a fortified position on the southern 
branch of Utoy Creek, and remained in it until 2:30 a. m. of the 19th, 
Companies A, F. D, and I picketing twenty-four hours meantime. On 
the 19th moved some two miles toward Sandtown; countermarched, and 
crossing the branch of Utoy, lay in rear of a portion of the Twenty- 
third Corps until night, when we returned to camp. On the 20tli, 
marched at daylight with the brigade; reached the Montgomery Rail- 
road, six miles below East Point, about midday. The regiment was 
ordered to support the Twenty-second Indiana Volunteers while en- 
gaged in destroying the track. At dark reached the camp on Utoy with- 
out the loss of a man. On the 23d. Companies I, C. H, and E ordered 
on picket, and relieved on the 24th. On the 27th, at daylight, moved out 
of our works, crossed Utoy, and at noon took up position facing north- 
northeast. On the 28th, moving with the brigade, crossed the Mont- 
gomery Railroad, and encamped. On the 30th, moved to the right 
front, near Rough and Ready, and fortified. On the 31st, in the after- 
noon, moved to the front a short distance; faced about and moved to 
the right, in the direction of heavy firing; encamped near the left of the 
Army of the Tennesee. 

September 1st, moved with the brigade toward Jonesborough, pass- 
ing through the works of the Seventeenth Corps, and halting. The regi- 
ment was ordered to skirmish over a hill in front. The position was oc- 
cupied by the skirmish Companies A, F. and D, with but little resistance. 
The remaining seven companies occupied the front line upon the left 
of the brigade, when formed for the movement upon the enemy's works, 
and continued to occupy that position in the movement until both the 
works and guns of the enemy were captured, although men from many 
regiments of the division became mingled while engaged near the cap- 
tured works and guns. By one of the casualties of battle the command 



232 



Fifty-second O. V. I. 



of the regiment devolved upon Captain Samuel Rothacker soon after 
the final charge began, and remained with him until the morning of 
the 2d. On the 2d, the regiment encamped at Jonesborough. On the 
3d, at 6 p. m., moved to division hospital and encamped for the night. 
On the 4th, the regiment was ordered in advance of the train by way of 
Rough and Ready to Atlanta, Ga., which place was reached in the even- 
ing. The regiment was detailed as a part of the guard over a b.igade 
of prisoners from the suburbs to the military prison, and on the follow- 
ing morning it was directed to its present camp. 

I respectfully submit and herewi h transmit a list of casualties in 
this command since May 3d. In the body of my report I have omitted any 
regular allusion to the casualties in the different actions. The accom- 
panying list I hope will be sufficiently explicit. 

Of the officers whom we shall see no more, I can only say they 
flinched from no known duty, dying like they were, true men and true 
soldiers. Captain S. M. Neighbor was mortally wounded at Kenesaw; 
also Lieutenants Ira H. Poole and D. F. Miser. Captain P. C. Schnei- 
der and Lieutenant J. H. Donaldson were killed on the field at Peach 
Tree. Were I to begin making special mention of the worthy it would 
be difficult to avoid injustice to some. Alike to officers and men. I can 
say they did their duty in action. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. T. Holmes. 
Major, Commanding Regiment. 

C.'\PTAiN Charles Swift, 
Acting Assistant Adjutant General, Third Brigade. Second Division, 
14th Army Corps." 

List of casualties in the Fifty-second Regiment. Ohio In- 
fantry Volunteers, from May 3, 1864, to September G, 1864: 



Date. 


Place of Engag-ement. 


Officers 

p. 
Men 


Wounded. 

0) 

u 

V 

u a 
O S 


Missing-. 

01 

u 

V 

e (u 

o 2 


May 11 

May IS 

May 31 

June 27 

July 19 

August 5 to 12. 
September 1 . . 


Buzzard Roost, Ga 


1 

2 

1 

22 

2 17 

5 

3 


9 
1 6 

4 
7 76 
3 35 
1 8 
1 16 




Dallas, Ga 




Kenesaw Mountain, Ga. . . 

Peach Tree Creek, Ga 

Before Atlanta. Ga 


3 

1 25 

2 










2 51 


13 154 


1 30 



Respectfully submitted, 

J. T. Holmes, 
Major. Commanding" Regiment. 



Camps and Battle-fields Rentsited. 23:"> 

Atlanta, Georglv. May 26, 1897. 

While we wait, when not otherwise engaged, to-day, going- 
back to Lee and Gordon's Mills, May 3, 1864, I must sketch and 
arrange a few of the more striking incidents of the Atlanta cam- 
paign, affecting us, which have so far been, partly or wholly, omit- 
ted or will not be embraced in the work promised after arrival at 
home. 

My files of letters and documents will supply nearly every- 
thing needed for such a sketch ; in fact, they will make it, requir- 
ing very little annotation or explanation. Some of the items that 
may appear to be omitted as we go forward will be taken up or 
touched suf^ciently at a later date. After the brief and widely 
separated notes sent from the fields as we moved south, we shall 
at the close of the campaign come to a comprehensive letter de- 
signed to gratify the home people of that day and, with the other 
portions of this work, sufficient, I hope, to satisfy the home people 
of these and later days. As the campaign progressed, its duties 
and activities were such that the sword was mightier than the pen 
or pencil and was seldom out of reach, while the keeping of the 
record of events was left to those whose duties were not so much 
on the firing line, or who had better access to writing materials 
and more leisure in which to use theuL 

The order of march for our brigade, issued at Ringgold on 
the eve of the opening of the ball, was in these terms — its exact 
form is preserved : 

''Headquarters 3d Brig., ^d Div., 14tii A. C, 
General Order No. 9. May 6, 1864. 

The Brigade will march to-morrow at daybreak in the following- 



order: 



52d Ohio. 

125th Illinois. 

22d Indiana. 

86th Illinois 

85th Illinois. 



234 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

The ambulances will follow the Brigade. The wagons will be packed 
and parked at this place and be in readiness to move forward when or- 
dered. By order of 

Daniel McCook, 
E. L. AxDERSON, Colonel Commanding. 

Captain and A. A. A. G. 
Co. O., 

o-M Ohio. 
The Regiment will march left in front." 

On the same day, a pencil note of which the following is a 
copy was sent to my headqnartei"s : 
j^Ij^jor: -'Camp I-jtii O. V. V. I., 

Why do you not come over and see us; tell Abe to come this after- 
noon. Yours, S. McMillan."' 

Sam. McMillan was the only son of my landlord while I at- 
tended Franklin College. We shall hear of him again in a few 

^^y^- HEADyUARTERS 5:2d O. V. I., 

Dear Parents- Near Rome, Ga., May 18, 1864. — G a. m. 

All's well, so far. Rebels routed one hour since from this place. 

I have seen sights since the morning of the 7th; will write particu- 
lars some future tiiue, if spared. 

A. R. had been a little sick, was better, but I would not let him come 
past Dalton as our march was to be rapid. Your son, J. T. H. 

Nine o'clock. There is fighting at the town beyond the river. This 
place is one and one-half miles north. 

Our division ran into the rebels here at 4 o'clock last evening. The 
fight lasted till dark. Losses about ecjual — one hundred men on each 
side. 

Our brigade, fifteen killed, forty wounded. 

Fighting in front nearly ceased. The bridge was fired awhile ago, 
and the river is between the combatants. 

A kind Providence has almost wonderfully preserved yours and mine 
amid all danger. J. T. H. 

Dear Father; Kingston, Ga., May ■22, 1864. 

All is well. I have not seen Taylor for five days. I was left sick at 
Resaca. The regiment has been in one engagement since I left it. but 
Taylor was not hurt. He is now at Rome. I expect to go there to- 
day. That was a pretty heavy fight, two days duration. 

At Resaca our loss in killed and wounded will probably reach one 
thousand. Our advance is ten miles from here. The rebels are show- 
ing a heavj' front. Will likely make a stand at that point. The railroad 
is running to this place and to-day will run up the branch to Rome. 

A. R. H. 



Camps axd Battle-fields Revisited. 2do 

Headquarters o2d O. V. I., 
Near Ackwqrth, Ga., June 7, 1864. 
Dear Parents: 

We are still well. I dropped a line from Rome May 18th, just after 
the fight. A. R. came up at Dallas May 2t)th. 

He is in good health now. Will. Mc. and Frank both safe yet. Sam. 
McMillan killed in a charge made by Wood's Division 1st or 2d of June. 

We were under fire from May 27th, to June 4th, nine days. 

The loss of the regiment since this campaign began — May 7th — is 
five men killed, one ofificer and nineteen men wounded. 

This army has made one hundred miles advance. The loss has been 
nothing compared with the Potomac and yet it has been fearful. Death 
and desolation rule the hour. 

I hope for a speedy end to all these things, no matter, under Provi- 
dence, who of this generation may enjoy it. 

If fortunate, wdien marching and fighting lull a little, I'll tell you of 
what we've seen. It has been since May 7th emphatically "Days of 
Battle, Nights of Waking." Your son, J. T. Holmes. 

Chattanooga, Tenn., June 24, 1864. 
Brother James T.: 

After several days of kicking and cuffing around I have at last been 
brought to a stand in General Hospital No. 2, at this place. How long 
I will stay here it is impossible to tell; it depends altogether whether the 
doctors think me badly diseased or not. I think likely we will be sent 
to convalescent camp before many days. 

I have been gaining a little each day since I left the brigade hospi- 
tal and in a few days more would be all right, if I just had money to pay 
for fixing my boots, buy a hat and some stationery. My respects to all 
the boys of "G" and tell Ross I'll write him a letter, if I can ever get 
hold of paper and envelopes. A. R. Holmes, 

General Hospital No. ■'2," Ward 22. 

Vining's Station, Cobb Co., Ga., July 10, 1864. 
Dear Parents: 

I write from the north bank of the Chattahoochee, which river the 
rebels crossed last night, leaving us full possession of this side after hav- 
ing fought over almost every foot of ground from Ackworth, near which 
place I wrote from last. I suppose you have heard from A. R. probably 
since I did. He went back from the front of Kenesaw Mountain June 
16th. He was bilious and not in health to remain out in the kind of 
weather we had then. He was in Chattanooga and better when he wrote 
me. 

I can't write you any history now. Let it sufifice for me to say I was 
in the assault of the 27th ult. and while comrades fell all around me dead 
and maimed I was untouched, and am yet without a scratch. 



236 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

The regiment lost eighty-five in the charge and seventeen holding 
its position until July 2d, making a total of one hundred and two — five 
of them officers. No officers killed. About thirty men killed outright 
and died from wounds. 

Atlanta is in sight nearly eight miles away; its spires and domes 
glisten in the sunlight, the objects of many thousand Yankee eyes. The 
Johnnies are thick on the other side of the river. 

I believe the ziwrk of the spring campaign is over. Movements will 
still continue, but they will not be by the grand army. I'm no prophet, 
however. 

I want to hear from home a little oftener. Don't wait for me to 
write. Your son, J. T. Holmes. 

When this letter was written Colonel Dan., Captain S. M. 
Neighbor of D Company, Lieutenant D. F. Miser of G Company 
and Lieutenant Ira H. Poole of I Company, who had been mor- 
tally wounded at Kenesaw, were still living so far as I then knew. 
Neighbor died July 7, McCook died July 17, Poole died July 30, 
and Miser died August 2, next ensuing. 

A revision of the losses at Kenesaw increased them six over 
my statement in this letter. 

Lookout IMountain, Tenn., July 13, 1864. 
Dear Brother: 

I have been near two weeks on "Lookout" and never a word have I 
heard from you or the regiment since the 27th of last month. I luckily, 
the first day I came on the Mountain, ran against "Clark" of Co. "I." 
He gave me the news up to that time and the intelligence of your safety, 
but could tell me nothing concerning Co. "G." 

Since I have been here my recovery has been slow. The surgeons 
here give no attention to such cases as mine. They allow exercise and 
mountain atmosphere to efTect our cure. And never since I soldiered 
have I fared worse for food than the last two weeks. The boys at the 
front had better thank their God for sufficient cofifee and hard tack to 
sustain life and be content; it would be heaven to ine just now in pref- 
erence to this place. 

Yesterday I walked a half a mile and back, then took a little sleep 
and felt the better for my walk. Berries are plenty here and I have been 
thinking all morning of making a break for the woods to get some. 

I wrote a letter home a few days since telling them where I was, that 
I had got about well again and would in a few days probably start for 
the regiment. 

General Sherman has ordered all, who will not be able for duty in 
sixty days, north of Nashville. I don't have to go. There is some talk 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 337 

of our receiving two months pay here; such an arrangement would suit 
me vastly. A. R. Holmes. 

General Hospital No. "3," Chattanooga, Tenn. 
Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
In Front of Atlanta, Ga., July 25, 18(34. 
Dear Parents: 

In the crowd of events and acts I almost forget whether I have drop- 
ped a note home or not. I believe I have not, however, and must then 
tell you first that A. R. is still back, I suppose, at Chattanooga. Have 
not heard from him since I wrote you last. 

In an engagement on the 19th the regiment lost eighty-five officers 
and men killed, wounded and missing. Among the latter Colonel 
Clancy. He was taken prisoner within twenty-five paces of me, but I 
could not see him. Had started to go to him, but before I reached him 
he was captured. Do not think he was hurt. 

I am still unscathed, but feel lonely and almost disheartened. 

We have lost in all two captains and one lieutenant killed; two cap- 
tains and six lieutenants wounded; Colonel McCook and Colonel Clancy 
both gone and about two hundred men killed, wounded and missing. 

Atlanta is two miles away yet, with the rebel army proper and all 
the militia of the state between here and there. I cannot predict how 
soon the city will fall, but think it must come before many days. 

We crossed the river on the IStli. Our guns reach the suburbs of 
the city. General McPherson was killed 22d. 

Joe. Johnson has been relieved and his successor. General Hood, is 
now believed to have been killed on the 23d. Hardee reported wounded. 
Write soon. Your son, J. T. Holmes. 

I forgot to mention in the body of my letter that Frank was se- 
verely wounded in the right shoulder during the action at Peach Tree. 
He was doing well at last accounts. 

The rumor of Hood's death was unfounded ; he survived the 
close of the war, dying in New Orleans, August 30, 1879. 

General Field Hospital, 
Vining's Station, July 27, 1864. 
Major Holmes: 

Sir: Will you please have the Adjutant fill out and forward a fur- 
lough for me for approval, and if approved send it to Nashville by mail. 
Direct to Lieutenant Wm. H. Lane, Nashville, as I expect to go on next 
hospital train. Make it for twenty days then I will stay as long as I can, 
but will return to duty as soon as able. I am getting along finely and 
sincerely hope you may escape all danger, for what would the poor boys 
do now without you. Major? You must be short of officers; you need 
those on detached service badly. 

Remember me to all. Yours truly, Wm. H. Lane. 



238 FiFTY-SKCOND O. A\ I. 

Lane was shot through the left thigh when the skirmisli Hne 
was about half way across the cornfiekl at Peach Tree. The shot 
must have come, at least four hundred yards from our left and the 
aim must have taken at the line by the shaking of the corn for 
the marksman could not then sec m\- men. The Captain took 
tea with us about four years ago. 

Lookout Mountaex, Tenn., July 28, 1864. 
Dear Father: 

It is some weeks since I have written home from the fact that every 
day almost I expected to leave this place and return to the regiment. I 
made a second application this morning to be sent back and received 
the promise of the doctor that I should be sent in a few days, which may 
mean to-morrow, or it may mean two weeks. ^Nly recovery has been 
perfected as far as hospital treatment will accomplish it and I think in 
another month my health will be better than at the beginning of the 
campaign. 

News here is scarce. It is supposed though, beyond a doubt, that 
Sherman by this time is in '"Atlanta." Some of the most desperate fight- 
ing of the war has taken place before the walls of that city. Contests in 
which they stood up man to man and with butt and bayonet decided 
which should die. Of the particulars of the fighting and of my own 
regiment I have gained but little. Taylor I have not heard from since 
I left the regiment though what little I have heard of its engagements 
up to July 23, leads me to believe him unhurt, but there has been heavy 
fighting since. 

Lieutenant Colonel Clancy was taken prisoner on 20th (li'th). The 
regiment by some mishap was thrown into confusion somewhat in ad- 
vance of the rest of the line and fell back in disorder, the Colonel, being 
probably wounded, was left behind. 

Politics are of little moment in the army now; each eye is watching 
for, each heart awaiting with painful throbs, the two events which they 
hope will be the forerunners of bright peace, "The downfalls of Rich- 
mond and Atlanta." But I have no hope of that bringing peace yet 
without many another hard knock. The capture of those two places is 
not going to be the capture of the two great armies which now fight the 
battles of the Confederacy. They will still be able to keep up two or- 
ganizations almost as formidable as at present. It is true we will have 
in our possession their walled cities, but their system of communication 
will yet afford the means for the most rapid and dangerous combina- 
tions to our scattered forces. 

Address my letters to the regiment. Your son, 

A. R. Holmes. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 339 

Headquarters o2d O. V. I., 
Near East Point, Ga., August 17, 18t)4. 
Dear Parents: 

I guess I haven't written home since about a month ago. 

I had both my horses stolen on the night of the 2oth of July. Have 
not recovered them and suppose I will not. A. R. came up on the 14th 
from Chattanooga. He looks better. 

We were in an engagement on the 7th of this month in which I lost 
one officer and ten men killed and wounded. From the 6th to the TZth 
I lost in all eighteen. We are resting from our labors. I think this 
four or five days quiet is preparatory to the final struggle for this '"Gate 
City." When Atlanta falls, there will be some rest for the weary soldiers 
but little sooner. I have heard nothing from Clancy. 

The weather is fine. The army in good spirits. I have only to re- 
peat, write. Your son, J. T. Holmes. 

Will McElravy was safe about the 3d and I presume is yet, as they 
have had no fighting. 

Roddy's rebels tore up our cracker line for some distance yester- 
day and drove ofif a good many cattle, but the damage will soon be re- 
paired. 

Captain J. W. McElravy of the 30th O. V. V. I saw four 
years of fighting with that regiment and is still pushing the battle 
of life successfully in the "Great West." 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
Near Atlanta, Ga., August 20, 1864. 
My Dear Parents: 

Our division has just this hour — 6 p. m. — returned from a raid on 
the railroad running from East Point to Montgomery, Alabama. We 
started before daylight, marched through the rain and mud, tore up the 
road six miles southwest of East Point and came back through rain and 
mud. The division did not lose a man, although confronted by a brig- 
ade of cavalry for six miles before reaching the road. The boys tore up 
the rails and ties for about a quarter of a mile and then we beat our re- 
treat, capturing ten "Johnnies." 

We are all tired. Let me say, however, our movement and exploit 
to-day were only intended to cover a big tearing up spree of Kilpat- 
rick's on the same road farther down, and to put the track where we 
struck it in such a shape that the enemy could not transport a force from 
Atlanta in time to intercept Kilpatrick. Now I said we were all tired, 
weary, worn. I want you to save this letter and hand it to every one 
who may wonder or think strange that I do not write more. 

Fighting is my profession now and friends at home must know that 
the faithful officer, in such a campaign as this has been and still is, can 
find no adequate time for the use of the pen. Don't point to newspaper 



^40 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

correspondents, "the gas houses of the rear," as a class. They have 
nothing else to do but drink the whiskey of some headquarters, write of 
movements and especially fighting that they never sec and scatter their 
panegyrics over the unworthy, as lavishly as though true merit were re- 
ceiving its reward. 

If I live until the end of this campaign and escape unhurt or so that 
I can write, I promise to wri.e a letter that shall satisfy you all and every 
inquirer. If I do not, one and all can safely say I fell trying to do my 
duty. Just think of my maintaining a correspondence. I have not 
summed them up but I think since the 1st of May this regiment has lain 
over one hundred and ten days under the enemy's rifles and artillery. 
The fearful losses we have suffered speak in silent but forcible language 
of our service. We have lost more men than any regiment in the brig- 
ade, or division, or corps. 

Again, and, upon the subject of letters for the present, finally, I know 
letters are of deep interest to you and as I have been doing I shall con- 
tinue to drop a note often — you don't get them all — but remember I have 
in my hands the interests and frequently the life and death interests of a 
regiment of men; my time is theirs and the day's work done, whatever it 
may be, if there's a chance to rest at night, tired nature will improve it; 
besides, for days, sometimes, I have neither paper nor envelope with me. 
Not that they are scarce, but where minies sing or shells hum such 
things are of no use. 

Wrote you about a week since; probably it was the 17th. 

A. R. stood the tramp to-day very well. I'll stop now to read the 
papers. Your son, J. T. H. 

While we lay on Utoy creek, I received a dispatch from Ad- 
jutant General Townsend at Washington, through General Whip- 
ple, inquiring as to the relation of Dr. Mary E. Walker to the 
regiment or any services rendered by her to it under contract or 
otherwise at Lee and Gordon's Mills. The answer was as fol- 
lows : 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 

Near Atlanta, Ga., August 22, 1864. 
Brigadier General Wm. D. Whipple, A. A. G. D. C.: 

Sir: In reply to your inquiry indorsed upon a dispatch from Wash- 
ington, bearing date 19th and signed E. D. Townsend, A. A. G., relative 
to Miss Mary E. Walker, I respectfully submit that I know of no con- 
tract with Miss Walker -for the rendition of medical service at any time 
in this regiment. Nor did she render any such services during her stay 
with the brigade. J. T. Holmes, 

Major, Commanding 52d O. V. I. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 341 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 

In Front of Atlanta, Ga., August 23, 1864. 
My Dear Parents: 

I wrote you the evening of the 20th, but you may receive this first. 
We still lie near East Point, with everything quiet except the skirmish 
line. 

I don't know when Atlanta will be taken. It seems to be like Rich- 
mond — a tough job. There has been but little fighting since the 28th 
ult., in which the rebels were completely flaxed by the 15th and 17th 
Corps, Logan's and Blair's. 

I suppose we have seen nothing compared with a hundred days man, 
who fought at Monocacy, or followed the wandering Johnnies through 
Maryland. I have an idea it was terrible, even almost as fearful as the 
experience of some of Ohio's Militia after Morgan last summer! 

Nothing further now. Your son, J. T. Holmes. 

How does my watch get along? Is it running all the time, or onh' 
a part, or not at all? 

Write often. A great many letters are lost on the way. 

About the date of this letter, General Palmer having resigned 
a few days before, General Jefif. C. Davis was assigned to the 
command of the 14th Corps and General Morgan to the com- 
mand of the second division. 

Headquarters 52d O. V. 1., 
Near East Point, Ga., August 25, 1864. 
My Dear Parents: 

I am not writing because I have much that I can say, but because 
I want to send you a document from our General that is highly charac- 
teristic as well as a paper of good sense. I saw the General ride past 
awhile ago going along this line towards the right and, by the way, 
"Johnny" will waken up to-morrow morning finding no Yankees in 
front of his right between the Chattanooga and Decatur or Augusta 
railroads, while too late he'll find the same Yankees with from 10,000 to 
30,000 more sitting down on his left and squarely across the Macon and 
Montgomery Roads. This is the probability, and from all I can see it 
is highly probable. 

Seeing the General reminded me of his letter and I thought not- 
withstanding you will see it in other papers I would send it as contain- 
ing sound doctrine from a sound man. 

*********** 

Your son, J. T. H. 

A. R. is stirring. 



243 Fifty-second U. \'. I. 

Sister Em- Rough and Ready, Ga., August 31, 18G4. 

It is many days since I have received or written a letter. Still I 
have written two home since receiving any. The last letter I received 
bore date about May 17th, and I thought surely there would be one for 
me at the regiment when I returned, but never a one was there. Tay- 
lor had started one to the hospital from you for me, but I never received 
it. I got back to the regiment the r2th of this month and found them 
lying about seven miles west of the city of Atlanta. There we lay until 
rhe 26th, when Sherman, leaving 20th Corps entrenched north of the 
Chattahoochee, cut loose from everything and with twenty days rations 
broke for the Macon railroad at the point where my letter is headed, 
which is some fifteen miles southeast of Atlanta, and our mail communi- 
cation for a few days will be decidedly precarious as there are somewhere 
from fifty to one hundred thousand rebels between us and the Chatta- 
hoochee. We have made our way thus far around the city without mo- 
lestation almost. The rebs appear to have no objection to our regaling 
ourselves from the cornfields, potato patches and barn yards of the 
Southern chivalry, and if they have any they appear to take it all out in 
thinking, at least they make no physical demonstration of their dislike. 
By the time this reaches you John's death will be known. John received 
what is considered a very slight wound, and I cannot help but think that 
neglect, under the belief that it was not dangerous, was the cause of his 
death. There are many of our surgeons whose rank and pay allow them, 
with impunity, to neglect the wounded and maltreat the sick soldier, but 
the day is coming when these lords of creation will have to pick rags in 
the mud for a crust to live on through the just appreciation of their 
merits by the men they now treat as dogs. 

I suppose Frank is at home by this time. Treat Frank to the best 
because he is a good soldier. Will, is getting along pretty well. Will, 
and John had not two superiors in their company for coolness and in- 
trepidity in a fight. Alex. Hammond is looking very well but complain- 
ing. Dan. Harrison is back in hospital. Taylor is in good health. 

A. R. H. 

"Frank" was a younger brother of Captain J. W. McElravy, 

at the time, a ward of my father. He had enlisted in G Company 

in December, 1863. Will." and "John" were our cousins and 

"Alex. H.," a son of John H. Hammond, one of father's near 

neighbors. 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 

Atlanta, Ga.. September 12. 1864. 
Sir: I have the honor to tender my immediate and unconditional 
resignation for the following reasons, to-wit: 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 343 

First. The feeling existing between self and the present regimental 
commander is such as to render it impossible for me to fulfill the duties 
of my position with honor to myself or credit to the regiment. 

Second. The Governor of the State of Ohio having declared that I 
need not look for any further promotion from him, and as I am under 
no obligations to him for my present commission, I would wish to re- 
deposit it with the State of Ohio, flic sooner the better, that I may re- 
enter the service, if possible, from my own native State of Massachu- 
setts. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 



First Lieutenant, -j'id O. V. I. 
P. O. Address, 

To Brigadier General Wm. D. Whipple, Assistant Adjutant General, 
Department of Cumberland. 
Endorsed: 

Headqu.-\rters 52d O. V. I., 
Atlant.-v, G.\., September 13, 18(i4. 



Tenders his resignation. Respectfully forwarded. 

In ca)iip was an energetic, driving officer; in the 

field and in the ftglif, during four months, he has shown himself neither. 
This I recently represented to him. J. T. Holmes, 

Major Commanding Regiment. 

It was his mode of statini;" his case. We never had a per- 
sonal difference in any form. As I shaU elsewhere suggest, it be- 
came my painful duty to advertise him of the danger of disgrace, 
not from my act or wish, but from the stir and gossip which his 
conduct had created and the determination of my superiors and 
that the only way to avoid it \\as by resignation. 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
Atlanta, Ga., September 12, 1864. 
My Dear Parents: 

I send you a line now that you may entertain no uneasiness over my 
scratch received in the battle of Jonesboro on the 1st inst. The wound 
is healing nicely and the blue spots of the contusion are gradually dis- 
appearing. The knee joint may be some weeks in fully recovering. 
From the 1st up to this morning I could notice no improvement what- 
ever so far as the feeling of the joint was concerned, but during to-day I 
have kept very still and it feels better. Have not used a crutch or cane. 
Can and do get about some, but wouldn't be much just now on a foot 
race! I suppose .\. R. told you I was struck on the loft knee by a piece 
of shell. 



24-i Fifty-second O. V. I. 

He is threatened with jaundice, but has just gone to bed having told 
me before he left my tent that he felt better to-day. We need more 
vegetable diet than we've been having, and I think will get it now. 

If I can find time you may, in about one week, look for the long 
promised letter. Affectionately, 

J. T. Holmes. 

Why don't somebody from home write oftener? 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
My Dear Parents: Atlanta, Ga., September 14, 1864. 

It is ever a gratification and oftimes a pleasure to the way-worn, 
weary traveler after a haven of rest is reached to review the scenes, the 
lights and shadows, of his journey, and endeavor to fix in the store 
house of memory all that may be of profit and for future warnings in 
what has been passed. I sit down to-night by the Gate City of the .so- 
called Southern Confederacy and experience a woof of pleasure with a 
warp of sorrow as I take up this pen to redeem my promise of a cam- 
paign letter. 

Thoughts come crowding in swarms for utterance; some steady, 
calm, and quiet; others strange, wild and weird; the mournful and the 
joj'ous; the despondent and the exultant. I crowd them all back that a 
plain narrative of facts may, as I hope it will, interest you and others, 
who may desire to know of a relative in the army. 

On the 3d day of last May the regiment broke up its camp at Lee 
and Gordon's ]\Iills, fourteen miles south southeast of Chattanooga. 
This camp, you will remember, was about seven, probably eight, miles 
from ihe state line between Tennessee and Georgia and in the latter 
state. We have been in but the one state since March, or rather De- 
cember of last year. From the* Mills we marched before night to Ring- 
gold and pitched our camp in full view of the gap through Taylor's 
Ridge of White Oak Mountains, where Hooker fought on the 27th of 
last November, the second day after the rout from Mission Ridge. 

Ringgold and this gap had been left unoccupied by our forces dur- 
in.u, the month of January, but the enemy showed no disposition to try 
laying a permanent hold of them. We remained encamped near Ring- 
gold with the army then gathering from Knoxville, Chattanooga and 
Hunlsville. 

On the night of the 6th McCook said to me, "Major, we move in the 
morning and the 52d Ohio takes the advance of this army towards 
Tunnel Hill. I want you to take the lead with three of your best skir- 
mish companies and when you strike them and get them started keep 
them hopping; give them no time to stop and fight you." He meant 
the enemy and repeated, "Be sure to keep them on the hop." 

Bright and early on the morning of the 7th I selected Captain Stur- 
gis, Captain Hutchison and Lieutenant Lane's companies and deploy- 
ing them took the road for Tunnel Hill. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 245 

The regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Clancy headed the 
column, the 14th Corps. 

A mile through the fields, pine thickets and woods and we found 
pine bushes chopped across the road, here and there, to prevent our 
cavalry from charging on their videttes. The skirmishers passed and I, 
with my bugler and orderly, rode around the obstruction leaving the 
column to remove their own obstructions. At two miles out, while my 
line was mostly in thick bushes, bang whiz-z-z a solitary shot. I listened, 
"pit it ta pat, pit ta pat" faster and faster went the rebel horseman until 
the sound died away in the distance towards Tunnel Hill. Two miles 
farther on a few rebels let fly as we came in sight of an old house, but it 
was only fun for the boys, fifty of them probably, to send a very scary 
volley among them and as the bugle sounded "Forward" to laugh as 
the Johnnies hurried to the rear. All went quietly then until just as we 
were coming in sight of Tunnel Hill, about a mile ofif. I saw their cav- 
alry, one hundred or one hundred and fifty in number, manoeuvering 
for a position to give us a fight. Finally, they opened at the distance of 
three hundred yards. Without the signal, down went every man on the 
skirmish line flat to the ground and commenced a spirited return of the 
fire. General Davis himself a short distance back had just told me to 
be careful as there might be a line of battle in the wood in front of me. 
They hit my horse's right ear and cut through a lock of my hair behind 
the right ear; in short, they made it quite warm all around. In about a 
minute, satisfied that I could hoist them without much loss, I ordered 
the bugler, who staid by my side, to sound the "Forward." Just as our 
boys were rising up, a Johnny shouted, "Why don't you send on your 
cavalry?" You see they don't like to fight infantry. It is too close 
work for a cavalryman. Another, as loud as he could shout, said, "Send 

on your G — d d d nigger wool." They thought we would send negro 

soldiers against them. They didn't wait; the skirmish line went for 
them on the double quick and away ofif, as he spurred his horse beyond 
bullet range, I heard "Bring on your G — d d d nigger wool." 

The cavalry that had been fighting us was routed and the town came 
in full view. I halted the line and the enemy opened on us with artil- 
lery from the edge of the place. Under the personal direction of Gen- 
eral Davis I moved my line by the right flank and swept through the 
place making the rebel battery get up and dust to avoid capture. We 
pushed up the hill beyond the town and by order of General Palmer, 
commanding 14th Corps, I recalled my line of skirmishers, five com- 
panies, two having been added as soon as the enemy began to show re- 
sistance. I should say seven companies, for I likewise had two from 
125th Illinois. 

As I was leading my companies back to the town to camp and rest, 
for skirmishing is hard work, I met General Davis. Said he, "Major, is 
there any body of men out this road?" I replied, "General, I just now 



tiiG Fifty-second O. V. I. 

•met about two companies of our cavalry going out to where I drew off 
my line and I suppose they are the relief for my line." He rode on with 
his stafif, after telling me to report to the regiment in Tunnel Hill and 
take rest. As he reached the ground where my skirmishers had stop- 
ped and turned back, he and stafif received a volley from probably thirty 
guns, only one shot taking efifect, mortally wounding the horse of his 
Inspector General. I could not account for it for a long time. The 
question with me was how could rebels fire on General Davis from 
bushes so close at hand when they had not fired at our skirmish line that 
had just stood on the same ground. In due course of time, a month 
or six weeks, I satisfied myself that the body of horsemen I had met had 
been and were rebels dressed in our clothes. They had remained in 
town, took the chance of passing for Yankees and in the nick of time 
rode boldly past my skirmish companies as the latter came off the line 
and taking shelter behind bushes watched for just such an opportunity 
as they got, but too eager they missed their mark and General Davis 
Ih'es to-day. 

We remained ciuartered near the church in Tunnel Hill until the 
evening of the 9th, when we moved about two miles out and brought up 
with the brigade under Rocky Faced Ridge, from the top of which rebel 
sharpshooters plugged their balls down on the heads of devoted Yan- 
kees. 

Night of the 10th we went on the skirmish line under the very crest 
of this renowned ridge. 

It rained, I cannot tell you how hard. Yea, it poured from dark till 
morning and we had to sit and take it with the pleasing reflection that 
daylight would place us almost at the mercy of the enemy on the lofty 
perch. Morning came and the next night came. Two of our boys had 
been killed and ten wounded. The advantage of position and shelter 
had nearly all been with the enemy, but the regiment, or seven com- 
panies on the skirmish line, had fought well, punishing the enemy as 
badly as they had been punished. I had almost forgotten to say that in 
the fight at Tunnel Hill I did not lose a man, while the boys emptied 
three saddles and captured a cavalry horse. 

After dark on the 14th we were relieved from the front line and 
moved some five miles to the right and rear of the army preparatory to 
passing through Snake Creek Gap and moving on Resaca, which we did 
during the next day and night. It was dusk when we entered the head 
of this gap. A little run, as crooked as it can be to get away from where 
it starts, runs through the six or seven miles of a cut through White 
Oak Mountains. This stream is called Snake Creek and the Gap is 
named from the stream. 

We were most of the dark, di izzly, muddy night of ,the r2th getting 
through, but did make it. We reached the exit before day and halted to 
rest a while. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 247 

At daylight we fell into line and marched, perhaps, a half 
mile out into the wider mouth of the gap and into an open field. 
The whole country thereabouts was forest covered. On the way, 
we passed a group of general stafif ofificers sitting on horseback 
in the woods on the left of the road. Among them was General 
Daniel E. Sickles, who, while a member of Congress from New 
York, killed Philip IJarton Key, then United States District At- 
torney, in Washington City, February 27, 1859, was tried for 
murder and acquitted in April following, and who had lost a leg 
-at Gettysburg. July 2, 1863. He had come to Sherman's Army, 
not to take a command, but on some commission connected with 
the concert of action between the Army of the Potomac under 
General Grant and the western column under Sherman. 

In that open field the boys stacked their knapsacks in one 
great heap and we left a guard over them. It was, and it looked 
like, stripping for a fight. 

The march through Snake Creek Gap has always been asso- 
ciated in my mind with the pass in the Toutebourg forest in Ger- 
many, where Arminius, with his fierce Germans, ambushed and 
destroyed the legions of Varus, the flower of the Roman Army, 
and filled the empire with mourning, in the ninth year of the 
Christian Era. The possibility of disaster to us, if adroitly am- 
buscaded within the narrow defile, was obvious even to the un- 
tutored mind, but the enemy had apparently overlooked the nar- 
row way to their rear and we wound through its eight or ten 
miles of rough, rocky road without resistance. 

On the 13th we moved toward Resaca and on the morning of the 
14th the work of war began in earnest. As the day advanced tlie contest 
thickened. Our brigade was shifted from place to place over the field 
until shortly after noon when the 23d Corps, General Schofield, assaulted 
the enemey's main works. Our division supported him and I never 
heard such fighting and so long continued on such a small spot of 
ground. It wasn't more than forty rods in length. It was here General 
Sherman was riding along the gun stacks of our regiment when a shell 
plunked into the ground about ten feet in front of his horse's head. The 
animal stopped and turned his head slightly to one side to see what that 
could mean. The General looked quietly down at it and shook his spurs 
towards the inquisitive animal's flank, a hint that he meant to move on. 
It didn't require more than a moment for the whole incident to occur. 



248 Fifty-second O. V. 1. 

but in that moment the General showed us he could be as cool as a cu- 
cumber under fire. 

Sherman ordered the assault to cease and said he wanted the artil- 
lery to do that work as it was folly to slaughter men at that point. This 
day we lost one man standing almost on the spot where the shell struck 
so close to Sherman. He was cut almost in two by a twelve-pound solid 
shot; never knew what hurt him. 

I have tried again and again to locate a point of geography 
and recall a name, but, unavailingly. It seems to me that the 
point was between the pile of knapsacks at the month of Snake 
Creek Gap and the position where Carter was killed by the shell 
and General Sherman rode past while the assault was in progress 
at Resaca, much nearer the latter position, however, in fact, after 
we had reached the immediate presence of the enemy. It may 
have been at some later date and a different place. These are the 
things that come clearly to mind ; a halt in a rather open woods ; 
a knoll on our left and an open field beyond it ; a fence running 
from the road where we halted along the edge of the field up over 
the knoll, most of which was covered by the timber; on the fur- 
ther side of the field, and in the timber which skirted it, was a 
rebel skirmish line ; McCook, jMorgan, Davis and, possibly, 
Palmer were near the fence at the top of the knoll ; a surgeon with 
a sharp instrument nipped a bit of flesh out of each side of the calf 
of the leg of a stout, fresh-faced, soldier and corresponding holes 
were made in the soldier's pants as though he had been freshly 
wounded by a pistol shot ; the secret of these preparations was 
being carefully guarded and confined to the immediate actors ; 
the man was, I think, a non-commissioned officer, perhaps a cor- 
poral, of the 52d, but then wearing no chevrons ; his name as well 
as his person I then well knew and the person remains in mem- 
ory ; he was ostensibly to desert to the enemy and after such time 
as he might find convenient come back with such information as 
he could collect with reference to the rebel forces, movements and 
purposes ; in other words, a spy was being prepared and sent into 
the enemy's lines. He never returned or was heard of again. 
He was probably detected and executed as a spy. 

That night we moved a short distance to the right, occupied a ridge 
and fortified it. The next day was one of the warm days for us so far 
as bullets were concerned. We lay on a wooded ridge behind the works 



Camps and Battle-fields Revlsited. '^49 

we had thrown up. Through the night and from early dawn till dewy 
eve rebel sharpshooters kept balls whizzing in a complete cross fire 
amongst the trees, in our ranks, and at a battery that was planted in the 
middle of the regiment. Our artillery troubled them much and the chief 
aim of the sharpshooters was to keep cannoniers from working their 
guns. 

There were eight of us lying behind three little logs as a screen from 
their infernal shots when a sharpshooter put a random shot between the 
two upper logs that missed Sergeant Major Freeman's arm about three 
inches, Captain Barnett's knee two inches, Lieutenant James — I think 
he was one — four or five inches. Colonel Clancy's head one inch, Adju- 
tant Masury's thigh six inches, grazed my boot leg, cut Lieutenant 
Duff's pants and drawers on the calf of the leg and plunged through Cap- 
tain Sturgis' right leg, entering just below the knee in front and passing 
between the two bones came out half way down toward the ankle. It 
was a remarkable shot. Six inches lower and to the right would have 
sent it through the whole row of men. 

Now and then all through the day some one would be hurt; two 
were killed. As night settled down the shots commenced falling sparsely 
and at dark there was only the occasional picket shot. 

About half-past eleven and as I had lain down and drawn my blan- 
ket over me, a sharp cracking of musketry began a short distance from 
our left. In a moment every man was up and at his post, weapons in 
hand. The twelve guns in the centre of the regiment were wheeled into 
position and opened with shot and shell, grape and canister straight to 
the front right and left. We thought they meant to fight us and for 
about half an hour the scene was strikingly grand and terrible. The 
twelve guns amid the darkness furnished one of the finest pictures for the 
artist that mind could imagine. The guns were as close together as they 
could be worked and the streams of fire that seemed to leap continu- 
ously from their deep mouths were only rivalled in grandeur to the 
senses by their deep-toned thunder upon the stillness of the night. 

The rebels were repulsed, and in the morning their works were 
empty. 

From here we marched immediately to the mouth of Snake Creek 
Gap where we had left knapsacks before the fight. The distance was 
six miles. Buzzard Roost had been taken by a flank movement on 
Resaca. The enemy were now on the way to the Etowah and south. 

We didn't know where they proposed to stop and fight us next. 
General Davis' division was selected to sweep through Rome the ex- 
treme right flank of the army, and from our marching ability we were 
called Davis' Cavalry. 

We led ofif for Rome and on the 18th. from that place, I dropped you 
a line giving you the situation in brief. Had I sat down then to write 
details of what had occurred I should have written many more things 



250 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

than this account thus far contains, should, in other words, have been 
more minute, but now it would never do; I shouldn't get through writing 
in a month at such a rate. In the engagement on the 17th, in sight of 
Rome, on the north bank of the Oostanaula, we lost no men, although 
the pluck of the regiment was tried worse than if we had become hotly 
engaged. Two regiments of the brigade lost, as I think I told you, from 
sixty to seventy men. 

We crossed the Oostanaula on the night of the 18th and on the 20th, 
leaving our bivouac in the streets of the city, camped in the suburbs until 
the morning of the 24th. 

Rome was deserted, almost, but few citizens left. I did see one of 
the prettiest ladies in that place I ever saw, but she was a violent rebel, 
uncompromising, etc. The country round about is beautiful; there, the 
two pretty rivers. Oostanaula and Etowah, come together and take the 
name of Coosa. 

The city in prosperous days contained about five thousand inhabi- 
tants and was to my eye the most desirable place for permanent residence 
I had seen in the south. I have had no occasion to change that view 
since. 

Connected by rail with all parts of the United States, at the head of 
steamboat navigation, affording ample water power by its two small 
rivers, surrounded by a rolling country that only needed and needs the 
industrious hand to make it abundantly productive, I must concede the 
palm to the little city of Rome, Georgia, over all, large and small, that I 
have seen beside in this war cursed land, what was once called the 
"Sunny South." 

On the morning of the 24th we pulled out and after a winding march 
brought up at Dallas, Paulding County, on the evening of 26th. The 
next morning we took position two miles east of Dallas under fire of the 
enemy and remained there behind works we threw up until the 1st of June, 
when we moved some miles towards Ackworth into works previousl}- 
constructed by the 23d corps. Here we lay within five hundred yards oi 
the Johnnies shooting at them and being shot at imtil the morning of the 
6th, when we found our friends in front gone, flanked out again. This 
was their position on Pumpkin Vine Creek and the Allatoona Pass or 
Mountains. 

On May 27, 1864, near Dallas, as we were moving forward 
through to an open strip of timber land, in line of battle, quite 
early in the morning, and while I was riding in the line with the 
men. we came to a fallen tree. It did not lie squarely across our 
path, but the right of the regiment struck the top ten or fifteen 
paces before the left struck the stump. I was riding with the 
right wing and as my horse came directly to the point where the 
tree forked, he veered to the left slightly and leaped the body of 



CA^rps AND Battle-fields Revlsited. 251 

the tree, which was full two feet in diameter. One of D Com- 
pany and one of F were crossing the tree just at the fork. I could 
liave touched them with my right hand as my horse rose over the 
log. At that instant, I heard a sort of double sound such as a 
four-years-old child would make by striking its two little fat 
hands together twice with a scarcely perceptible interval of time 
between the strokes. The two men fell, tangled together, in the 
fork. The line moved on. We had heard no sound of a gun. In 
a few paces, we passed what was known as the Washington house,. 
a small, deserted, frame, country residence in the edge of the tim- 
ber, and halted. There before us was an open valley three-quar- 
ters of a mile wide, with no sign of an enemy nearer than the ior- 
est-covered ridge on the farther side. The D Company man, 
John Lowmiller, slightly in advance of the other, had been shot 
through the head, killed instantly, and the F Company man, 
George W. Wallace, had been shot through the face from side to 
side in such a way as to knock out several back teeth from each 
side of his upper jaw. He recovered and remained in the service 
until the close of the war. I am advised by my friend, Captain 
Brice, of Wheeling, that he is still living in Jackson County, West 
Virginia. The sharpshooter was perched in some tree on the 
ridge, with a Whitworth rifle, having globe or telescope sights, 
and had evidently fired at the mounted officer clear across that 
valley. He probably had no knowledge of the log to the pres- 
ence of which, at that moment, I may have owed my life and my 
two men their disaster. I had heard the Whitworth for the first 
time, under the lofty crags of Buzzard Roost, at the opening of 
the campaign, and on the 11th of May when on horseback in a 
peculiarly exposed position had the distinct consciousness that 
Charley and his rider were the target at which, more than a mile 
away from him, the sharpshooter had taken three distinct "trys" 
with his ugly, plunging shots. The report of the gun is not like 
that of any other I ever heard. There is no ring, no clearness, 
to it. One is reminded of a great pop-gun. The po{^ was im- 
pressed on my memory, however, and remains "to this present" 
with much distinctness. It was several years after the war before 
I saw one of the cartridges. They were about three inches in 
length, the ball an inch, the powder two inches, caliber, about 
fortv. 



252 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

While the forward movement of June 10 was in progress and 
we were passing through a pine forest, there was a halt, with a 
sort of tumbling out of ranks late in the afternoon, prior to camp- 
ing for the night. The sky was leaden, a drizzling rain had been 
falling for several hours, which was increasing in volume ; every- 
thing that would take water was soaked ; the drip and drizzle and 
splash continued. I remember there the mixed odor of pine and 
smoke and saltpetre, so often encountered in those days. Three 
or four of us, having dismounted, had gathered on a large fallen 
tree, and as one of the group, W. S. Furay, a newspaper corre- 
spondent, then without a military title, improved the occasion to 
express some emphatic and unfavorable sentiments with refer- 
ence to General Sherman, in short, to administer a genuine 
"roast," abundantly interlarded with some choice adjectives from 
Shimei's vocabulary. F. was "out of humor" with the General 
as the General was sometimes out of humor with war correspond- 
ents. As the water dripped from his black hat and his poncho, 
and his water logged extremities found sympathy in our own, he 
enjoyed a source of relief that was denied to us, at least it would 
have been dangerous to indulge in it, because at the end was a 
possible order cashiering or dismissing the offender from the 
service in disgrace. The Colonel has remained true to his first 
love and, as the lawyers w-rite it, has "from thence hitherto" been 
a devotee of literature and a long time resident of Ohio's capital 
city. 

After resting near Ackworth until the 10th we began the movement 
on the enemy at Kenesaw Mountain and through constant fighting, day 
by day, always marching, digging or picketing where the guns of the 
enemy could reach us. Every inch of ground was contested until we 
came to the base of the mountain. Here again, as at Buzzard Roost, 
from the crest of the rocky and ragged steep, they could pour the leaden 
hail down upon our devoted heads. At times they would open two or 
three six-gun batteries, then, lookout; the screech and scream of their 
shells would very forcibly remind one that he was only flesh and blood 
and should one of these nasty creatures come straight to him he couldn't 
stop it tintil it would have the better of the argument. 

The day they first opened from the top of Kenesaw Mountain with 
their shells I did a thing that I have often wondered since how I was 
able to do it. 

We were not in works, simply lying out in the open field. They let 
fiy very suddenly and with very respectable aim for the point where I 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 253 

stood; two shells passed just over my head and struck the ground close 
behind, another burst in the air above and a fourth instantly plowed the 
ground and burst about fifteen feet in front of me. I thought "who can 
tell how long we'll live,"' and in the smoke and dust of the bursted shell 
I folded my arms and stood gazing at the rebel battery, without a feeling 
of fear, until they slacked up the working of their guns. What pos- 
sessed me to do it I cannot tell without it may have been an internal as- 
surance that they couldn't or wouldn't hit me. Anyhow they didn't. 

^ ^ ^ -^ 1^ i^ '^ z^ ^ '4: ^ 

The next paragraphs of this letter are embodied in the ac- 
count of the assault on Kenesaw June 27. 

Late in the afternoon of Jinie 23d an impression obtained 
that Kenesaw was being evacuated. I was selected to lead a 
charging colunni, break through the line of sentinels supposed to 
be left at the foot of the mountain next us imtil nightfall, scale the 
heights and unfurl the stars and stripes on the top of Kenesaw. 
Colonel Dan's enthusiasm over the idea that the third brigade 
was to enjoy such an honor was almost boyish in its fervency and 
that I should do the unfurling was a favored notion with hiin ; he 
had set his heart on it ; I think he was my sincere friend always. 
The skirmish companies were selected and we moved out some 
distance in front of our heavy earthworks. In the Kenesaw bot- 
tom, heavily wooded, as it was, and with thick underbrush, with 
a swamp or swale, thirty yards wide, in front of us, standing in 
line, I said to the men that they had before them a fearful peril, 
that it was my conviction that very few, if any, of them would 
reach the simimit alive. 

The twilight was coming on, the gloom of that wood was 
ominous ; the limbs and bark of trees were being nipped and cut 
by minie balls on every hand ; yet no man flinched, no muscle 
twitched and that little band never moved more promptly off the 
parade ground than when the order was given, "Forward, 
March !" 

It was a march, and they must have felt it, into the very jaws 
of death. 

The order to storm the heights was countermanded at the 
end of a hundred paces for the enemy was there in force still, but 
those soldiers had shown what has always seemed to me their 
most striking exhibition of cool, collected and determined 



254 Fjftv-secuxi) O. \'. I. 

bravery. The heroism displayed at Therniopylge could have been 
of no higher, purer quality. 

It was a moment of trial — a test of courage — of which each 
of them may well and worthily be proved for a lifetime. 

On the Sth of July there was a forward movement, the enemy 
was crossing the Chattahoochee and we were keeping in touch 
with his rear guard so that we might know where to find him. 
The 52d was on the skirmish line ; shots were being exchanged 
as we pressed through the woods. Presently we struck the cor- 
ner of a field that had been in corn the preceding year. As we 
advanced, the length of my line in the cornfield increased and so 
did the fire from the Confederates in the woods around the oppo- 
site corner. The dusk of evening had commenced falling. I 
was riding close to my line of men. We were on higher ground 
than the enemy. One who looks out of the car windows now as 
he approaches the river going into Atlanta will see the sort of 
surface, if not the very ground, over which we were fighting. 
Men were being hurt and sent back, if merely wounded. Isaac 
Banghart of Company G suddenly stopped. I was riding within 
a few feet of him. He dropped his gun and showed me that he 
had been shot through the flesh of the arm. I directed him to 
the field hospital which had just been established in the woods 
beside a road near the corner of the cornfield which we had passed 
and he walked away. The firing lasted until the rifles began to 
make a flash in the twilight and then ceased. Establishing the 
line for the night, I rode back to headquarters near the hospital. 
My astonishment and anger may be imagined when, upon in- 
quiring after Banghart, the surgeon informed me that his arm 
had been cut off above the elbow. Perhaps I used some words 
not common in polite society, but after the third of a century I do 
not feel like "taking them back." There was neither excuse nor 
defense for the cutting. The arm was as plump and graceful as 
a woman's ; the soldier's health and habits were perfect ; not a 
bone had been touched or injured and yet the man had been 
maimed for life. There may have been whiskey mixed with the 
judgment that amputation was necessary. I always thought the 
beauty of the subject for a little operation had overshadowed the 
consideration of the soldier's true interests. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 355 

The letter proceeds : 

Next morning they were gone again and we followed until, near the 
railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee, we found them in a semi-circu- 
lar work about four miles in length covering the bridge. These were 
the jaggiest, most unapproachable works I ever saw them in. They were 
like a row of porcupines on a huge scale; you couldn't go near them it 
there was nobody to shoot at you! 

These works they abandoned in the night as they had done others 
all the way from Buzzard Roost and we camped on the northwestern 
bank of the river and rested until the 18th, From that camp I think I 
wrote a note home; I know I did. 

On the 18th we crossed the river above the mouth of Nancy's Creek 
and effected the crossing of Nancy's Creek without opposition. The 
next day, however, as we made the crossing of Peach Tree the rebels 
jumped into us and cut our regiment badly. Here Colonel Clancy was 
taken prisoner. The total loss of the regiment was eighty-five officers 
and men. Two officers killed and three wounded out of the number. 

I never felt blue in the army until then. Every place I looked, I 
missed familiar faces, some for all time, others for an uncertain period. 
That fearful word "missing" was written after some names; we did not 
know what fate it might mean. Here Frank Mc. received his wound. 
and I bear personal testimony that he was with his company in as hot a 
place as ever he'll see again. 

The rebels were whipped in this fight, too, but it cost some precious 
blood and sacrifice to do it. When they finally gave way from our front 
it was to fall back to their works in the outskirts of Atlanta. On the 
ground between the two lines we found some of our poor fellows dead 
where our skirmish line had been overpowered at one point; they had 
been killed and the ground being covered by the guns of both sides it 
had been impossible to bring the bodies off until the enemy left. Some 
wounded men lived for thirty-six hours and were carried off alive but 
ffy-blown until they were almost yellow. It was a hard sight. I saw 
two of the 85th Illinois carried off there who were alive; one died soon 
and the other is living and doing well. 

We followed the enemy, thinking they were going out of Atlanta to 
let us go in, but we missed it. They were not ready to give up Atlanta 
so easily, and we stopped again in front of strong works. Our brigade 
was for almost the first time left in reserve and it was here that I lost 
both my horses, stolen by some of the 10th O. V. C. in the night of the 
26th. It's good-by horses yet, although no man's fifteen hundred dol- 
lars could have induced me to part with them. 

We kept working back and forth until August 7th when our division 
got into a fight in front of Atlanta and we— 52d— never were shelled so 
before. Down to this time through the campaign they had not, on ac- 
count of scarcitv. thrown one artillery shot to our ten, but here they 



256 Fifty-second O. V. 1. 

poured them thick and fast upon us. They couldn't stop our advance 
and we threw up fortifications within four hundred yards of their works, 
under their fire, and harassed them to our heart's content until the ISth 
of the month, losing three killed and fourteen wounded. This was near 
Utoy Creek. 

On the 12th we drew out of the hot place and enjoyed a kind of rest 
behind works that the enemy did not shoot at very often. 

On the 20Lh as I wrote you our division marched ten miles and back 
through rain and mud to cut the Montgomery railroad. 

On the 27th the grand movement on the Macon railroad began. 
After marching, camping, fortifying and manoeuvering until 12 m. Sep- 
tember 1st, we found ourselves face to face with our enemy once more. 
Gathering our nerve for what we felt would be the final blow in the At- 
lanta campaign, after the lines were formed under bursting shells and 
singing minies, we started across a broad cornfield for the works of 
the Johnnies. This time we took them and the Johnnies too with their 
guns, ten in number. I was knocked out of this fight, but not until we 
had nearly reached their works. In that whirl and storm of shot and 
shell I felt exultant at the success and could not have avoided the feeling 
if I had lost my limb. It was the hour of victory; an hour in which we 
wiped out old scores with the foe, in which we remembered the graves of 
Kenesaw and Peach Tree.* 

War gives to men strange turns of nature when battle becomes na- 
ture's subject of thought. 

In this engagement, I lost three killed and seventeen wounded, 
counting myself. The next morning we moved into Jonesboro one-half 
mile and encamped, while portions of the army went after the routed 
rebels. 

Jonesboro is a very small village strung along the railroad for a mile. 
It was nearly deserted. I didn't ride through it much as my wound 
pained me all the time we remained there and I was afraid of it, I'll con- 
fess now, although I thought I could take care of it. 



* Ten years later, my old friend and some time near neierhbor. Chaplain Van 
Home, in his history of the Army of the Cumberland, Vol. 2, pp. 144-145. said : 

"At S p. m. the rectified lines atrain moved forward, and tV'e attack was quickly 
and Tfigrorously made along- the whole battle front. There had been so many unsuc- 
cessful assaults made bv both armies duringr the campaign, that the enemy regarded 
this attempt to carry his intrenchments, so strongly defended, as an exhibition of 
folly and harmless audacity. But it was soon revealed that Ihe most determined re- 
sistance could not arrest or defeat tVie bold assault. Morgan's division carried its 
entire front, and erloriously reversed the issue of its assault near Kenesaw mountain 
on the 27th of June. The brig-ades of Mitchell and DilW'>rth there clune to the hillside 
under thi" enemy's puns, having- failed in assault ; here they leaped the fortifications, 
and under sword and bayonet held captive the troops set lor their defense." 

"The action was the most brilliant and successful of its type during- the 
carapaig-n." 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 357 

On the 4th our brigade brought sixteen hundred rebel prisoners to 
Atlanta, and here we are in good quarters resting from our labors. 

The 52d had four hundred and seventy guns and swords when it left 
Gordon's Mills. During the campaign it lost in killed, wounded and 
missing two hundred and fifty-three. Of these, sixteen officers, five of 
whom are dead. About one hundred men are dead. In some cases a 
man was wounded twice and afterwards killed. Such cases are only 
classed as killed. Some now with us were wounded as often as three 
times. No Ohio regiment, if I do say it, has made a bloodier mark dur- 
ing the four months. We have made our mark in history, but at a fear- 
ful cost. Many good and brave men have been snatched from our rolls 
and our midst forever. There are vacant chairs and lonesome hearth- 
stones in Jefferson, Belmont, Tuscarawas, Van Wert, Cuyahoga, Hamil- 
ton and other counties of Ohio that must ever remain vacant and lone- 
some. The race of the loved one is run. He gave up his life at his post; 
this I say of every departed one of the regiment. 

It was as you know in the action of the 7th of August that John was 
wounded. 

The letter sent to his father I presume does him justice in the char- 
acter of a soldier. 

In bravery his comrades claim he had no superior among them. He 
had the nerve to dare where others would have quailed. 

"Soldier rest, thy warfare o'er. 
Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking, 
Dream of battlefields no more, 
Days of danger, nights of waking." 

I have hastily redeemed my promise, indebted to a kind Providence 
for the life and health to do so. I might elaborate an^ sentimentalize 
for pages yet. Let it suffice for me to write, while thousands of hearts 
mourn the loss of near kinsmen, amid the horrors of war, you are spared 
thus far both your sons. It is strange, even almost miraculous, that so 
many escape in battle as do. We cannot tell how it is and yet, God 
knows, enough perish. 

I began writing on the night of the 14th, this is the 19th. Yesterday 
in riding down through the city I gathered what I think is a fact. At- 
lanta by slow degrees is passing away. These soldiers fought for it; their 
comrades strew the ground with graves from here to Ringgold, one hun- 
dred and eighteen miles. The hosts of rebellion held a power here that 
it is the intention to render naught for all time to come, no matter what 
may happen. General Sherman is making a purely military post of the 
place; citizens are all leaving and all around the city fine houses are leav- 
ing, by piece-meal, on the backs of soldiers, in wagons, carts, old bug- 
gies and every conceivable vehicle. A house is vacated by a family, some 
soldier steps inside with a chunk of a rail and bursts off a board; it's 
good-by house, for you'll soon see a hundred soldiers carrying away win- 



258 FiFTY-SECOXD O. V. I. 

dows, shutters, flooring, weather boarding, studding, etc., etc., ad infini- 
tum. All these, to fix up quarters in adjoining camps. So you can see 
we are comfortable. 

The city is scattering; every house has an open lot, or garden, near 
it, and the result is Atlanta is about two miles in diameter, but it will not 
be so large by the time we get through with it. 

These people bid for these things by their rebellion. They can avert 
all any day, but they know no such disposition, as a rule. 

I have written enough for this time. 

We are all well. Your son, 

J. T. Holmes. 

Please excuse want of punctuation, if any, as I was too tired to read 
over so long a paper. 

Atlanta, September 29th. 

Under marching orders. You will probably hear from us next some 
place north of Atlanta. This letter goes through by special hands. 

A single item of military correspondence or business will 
give some idea of the processes of "red tape," while at the same 
time disclosing the ravages of the campaign. 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
Atlanta, Ga., September 20, 1864. 
Brigadier General Wni. D. Whipple, A. A. General, D. C.: 

Sir: I desire to represent as near as possible the facts in the case 
of Lieutenant G. Rudolph of this regiment detailed for duty in the Signal 
Corps of this Department September 18th, S. F. O. No. 258. 

Before the movement against the Macon Road began, I made appli- 
cation to General Morgan, Commanding Division, to have Lieutenant 
Rudolph, who had been on detached duty with the Division train since 
January 8th, returned for duty with the regiment, representing that by 
the casualties of the campaign the number of Line Ofificers with the regi- 
ment had been reduced to six, and that Lieutenant Rudolph was needed 
to take charge of one of the four companies commanded by non-com- 
missioned officers. 

The communication was returned from Division Headquarters with 
the endorsement that Lieutenant Rudolph would be relieved according 
to request if the brigade commander would send up the name of some 
Lieutenant to take his place in the train. 

The name required was forwarded on or about the 18th inst. Lieu- 
tenant Rudolph has not as yet reported to me for duty with his regiment, 
seeking in preference a permanent detail when the interests of his regi- 
ment and the service, present and prospective, earnestly call for him here. 
The casualty list of the regiment during the past four months shows our 
loss in officers. We yet have but six in the line. An application to Gen- 
eral Sherman for the return of Captain Wm. H. Bucke, Co. "A," Chief 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 259 

Military Conductor, Division of Mississippi, procured an order for his 
immediate return to his regiment. I have been laboring, to procure at 
least one commissioned officer for each company of the regiment and 
would earnestly and respectfully ask that the order detailing Lieutenant 
Rudolph, who is certainly without any experimental or extraordinary 
natural qualifications as a Signal Ofificer, be revoked that the best interest 
of the service may be subserved. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. T. Holmes, 
2\Iajor Commanding Regiment. 
Endorsed: 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., H. 818, D. C, 1864. 

Atlanta, Ga., September 20, 1864. 
Holmes, Major J. T. 

Asks that the order detailing Lieutenant Rudolph for duty in the 
Signal Corps be revoked and that he be returned to his regiment for duty. 
H. 818, D. C, 1864. 

Headquarters 3d Brig., Jd Div., 14th A. C, 

September 20, 1864. 
Respectfully forwarded. 
Approved: J. W. Langley, 

Lieut. Col. Commanding Brigade. 
No. 1510, B. C. 148. 

Headquarters 2d Div., 14tii A. C, 

September 21, 1864. 
Respectfully forwarded, approved and strongly recommended for rea- 
sons stated by Major Holmes, Commanding Regiment, and this officer 
has been on detached service for a long time and his services are much 
needed with his regiment. Let some other ofificer be detailed, one who 
can better be spared. James D. Morgan, 

Brigadier General. 
B 254 (E. B. No. 228). 

Headquarters D. C, September 23d. 
M. R. B. 122, 1864. 

Headquarters 14th A. C, 
White Hall, Ga., September 21, 1864. 
Respectfully forwarded and attention asked to Major Holmes' letter 
and endorsement of General Morgan. Jeff. C. Davis, 

Major General Commanding. 

Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, 
Atlanta, Ga., September 23, 1864. 
Respectfully referred to Captain S. Bachtell, Chief Signal Ofificer, D. 
C, for remark. 

By command of Major General Thomas. 

Henry Stone, A. A. G. 



260 FiFTV-SECOND O. V. I. 

Headquarters Signal Corps, D. C, 
Atlanta, Ga., September 24, 1864. 
Respectfully returned with the request that the name of some intelli- 
gent and efficient veteran second lieutenant be substituted instead of 
Lieutenant G. Rudolph, 5"2d Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 

Samuel Bachtell, 
Captain and Chief of Stafif, Department of Cumberland. 

Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, 
Atlanta, Ga., September 26, 1864. 
Respectfully returned with reference to preceding endorsement, and 
directions to detail some good officer. 
E. B. 218, V. I. 

By command of Major General Thomas. 

Henry Stone, A. A. G. 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
Chattanooga, Tenn., October 16, 1864. 
My Dear Parents: 

We left Atlanta on the 29th ult. and after having been in three states, 
Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, and nearly Mississippi, and having 
traveled by rail and foot eight hundred miles, find ourselves once more 
in the Gibraltar of the south. There has been a big scare in these parts 
and there may be a big fight. 

We are under orders for a move, probably back towards Stevenson. 

We left Florence, Alabama, on the 10th inst., took cars at Athens, 1 
a. m. 14th, reached here at dark. Yesterday I was ordered to Rossville 
and we had the pleasure of picketing and sleeping on the same ground we 
occupied for five days before the battle of Chickamauga last year; this 
morning we were ordered in again. 

Clancy was exchanged and returned the day we left Atlanta, but did 
not come with the regiment. 

He was roughly used by the Johnnies, looks well, however. 

Communication with the front is interrupted and I don't know how 
soon we'll hear from Sherman! 

We are both well. Your son. 

J. T. Holmes. 

Gaylesville, Ala., October 26, 1864. 
Sister Em: 

It has been some time since I received your letter and opportunities 
for writing have been scarce. On the 29th of September we left "At- 
lanta," traveling by rail. After numerous delays and accidents and so on 
we found ourselves in "Athens," Alabama; from there we mounted the 
unfailing matches for "Florence." After two days of the hardest march- 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 261 

ing I ever saw done we arrived in that neighborhood as near a played out 
set of men as could easily be found. Here we stopped some four days 
and then started back to Athens again. General Morgan's division was 
all that was along. The object of the expedition was to gain a fording 
on the Tennessee river below Muscle Shoals, for which old Forest was 
heading, and prevent his crossing. We were so far successful as to com- 
pel him to cross several miles below on flats and rafts. When we got to 
Athens we took the cars and hauled up next at Chattanooga, where they 
were hourly expecting Hood with an overwhelming force. We lay here 
three days, but no Hood appearing we were again ordered on the tow- 
path and after five days marching, in a southwesterly direction, overtook 
the army under Sherman at this point. The army at the present is living 
almost exclusively of¥ the country. And wherever it goes it leaves a re- 
gion desolate. 

Will. Holmes is not very well. I think likely he will be sent back to 
Chattanooga if we have to march much more. 

■Jim. Dickerson returned to his regiment at Chattanooga. Alex. 
Hammond was left in Atlanta. My own health has improved on this 
campaign and I am in better health now than since the 1st of April. 

A. R. H. 

On the 31st of October the 22d Indiana reported to me and 
the two regiments became drovers, the custodians of the meat 
supply, on the hoof, of the second division, 14th Army Corps. 
The camp had been selected and the boys were rounding up the 
stock, selecting desirable spots on which to pitch shelter tents and 
spread blankets for the night, building fires on which to make 
coffee, fry their flitch or fresh meat and warm and soften the hard- 
tack. To prevent frauds and adulteration of the soldier's greatest 
artificial drink, the coffee was issued in the berry, for the most 
part, already browned, and every soldier carried his own cofifee 
mill. The grinding went on after the vessel containing the water 
was hung or set over the fire. A stranger to military service 
would hardly figure out at the first guess the pattern of the mill, 
and he might have it in his possession without thinking of its 
capacity. It was simple enough. The tin cup, which each sol- 
dier carried, placed with the bottom on some smooth solid sur- 
face, half filled with the browned cofifee grains, the shank end of 
the bayonet and a little "elbow grease" furnished all the elements 
of a first-class mill. It was an easy matter to crush the grains 
and the expert grinder — they were all experts — would, in a few 
minutes, empty into the boiling water the requisite quantity of 



262 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

well ground coffee. Before entering the camp, which was in 
sight, as the October sun was sinking gloriously behind the semi- 
mountain tops about Alpine, I came to a clear creek in the middle 
of which I met General D. S. Stanley on horseback. As our 
horses drank from the stream with their noses close together, we 
talked. I cannot now recall anything of the conversation beyond 
the day's march and its incidents and the camping of the troops 
then going on. I have never seen him since that meeting. He 
was a splendid specimen, with dark hair, then rather long, a good 
eye, a good face, a pleasant voice, an interesting manner, then, 
though only thirty-six years of age, in command of the fourth 
corps of Sherman's army. He was travel-stained and weary with 
the day in the saddle. He was not on the march to the sea, but 
went immediately north with his command, to participate in the 
conflicts with Hood's army from Pulaski to Nashville and thirty- 
two years after the battle of Franklin, one of those conflicts, to be 
engaged in a fierce personal controversy with General J. D. Cox, 
over its conduct. 

Headquarters 52d O. V. I., 
Rome. Ga., October 30, 1864. 

Miss : 

For want of a new letter I deliberately sat down a few moments since 
and gave your last, received about ten days since, a third and thorough 
perusal, and now in these old woods a short distance north of Rome, un- 
der the edge of a shelter tent with my knee for a desk, I'll write a brief 
reply — this being my first opportunity to write since the 28th day of Sep- 
tember. Our track since then you will find on a good map, Atlanta, by 
way of Stevenson, Alabama, to Athens by railroads. From Athens to 
Florence and back again on foot, a trip of great sufifering; from Athens 
to Chattanooga by rail. From Chattanooga on foot to Gordon's Mills, 
our old camp; thence to Lafayette; thence towards Sommerville until we 
reached a point opposite Alpine, Georgia; and finally, by direct route, we 
reached Rome last evening. It was one month of the hardest campaign- 
ing, save fighting, I ever saw. 

I'll say I was well acquainted with the brave Donaldson. * * * 

Kingston, Ga., November 5, 1864. 
Sister Em: 

This may be the last scratch you will get from me for many days; it 
may be months and my next letter may be headed Savannah, Georgia, 
instead of Kingston, Georgia. 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 2(\d 

Sherman says we shall see salt water before three months and 
every preparation is being made for a long campaign. We go from here 
to Atlanta and from there we will start with sixty days rations of bread, 
coffee, salt, and the country we pass through must furnish the remainder. 
The paymaster is here; if communication stays open long enough I will 
send home dollars. A. R. H. 

Kingston, Ga., November 6, 1864. 
*********** 

Everything here is hubbub and mystery. Let us see what some in- 
dications are. First, that four corps, 14th, 15th, 17th, 20th, will rendez- 
vous at Atlanta in a few days for a rapid campaign through to the coast 
at Savannah, or some other point. Second, that in view of the new base 
upon the coast and the trouble in maintaining such an extended line of 
communication as the present as well as to prevent operations upon this 
line by the enemy, every rail will be taken up from Atlanta to Chatta- 
nooga and every tie burned. You may have learned that the rebels took 
up the track from Jonesboro to Macon and it is reported are laying it 
down from Selma, Alabama, north. 

Third, that Atlanta will be abandoned, being now nothing but a mass 
of ditches and parapets. It cannot be of any importance as a station, one 
hundred or one hundred and twenty miles from the terminus of the near- 
est line of communication for either army, in a country laid waste by the 
desolations of war. 

Fourth, that the 23d and 4th Corps will hold the line of the Memphis 
and Charleston road; but here I lose sight of what is likely to be the 
accomplishments of purposes of the man we call Tecumseh. While we 
were at Gaylesville, Alabama, after Hood's demonstrations had ceased, 
the General said, "Hood's made his raid, now, by G — d, I'll show him 
what a raid is." 

May we all see what it will be. Your son, 

T. T. H. 

Clancy is yet in Atlanta. I am still in command. 

Write, no matter whether it gets through, it may. 

The regiment will stand about three-fourths Lincoln, one-fourth 
McClellan, / think. Very quiet. 

He.\douarters 52d O. V. L. 
Etow.\h Bridge, Ga., November 12, 1864. 
Sister Sue: 

Yours of October 15, reached me while at Kingston a few days since. 
On the 8th we moved to Cartersville and this morning came down to the 
two forts on the north bank of the Etowah River to guard the railroad 
and wagon road bridges. We are still moving by slow degrees south. 
Almost all traces of civilization are disappearing from the vicinity of this 
road. Houses are torn down and burned. I might say towns. We passed 



2i')4: Fifty-second O. \ . i. 

througli Cassville the other day, and of a flourishing village of fifteen 
hundred inhabitants, only one family, or two, remained. Every house, 
excepting the churches, was one heap of ashes. Citizens from here are 
almost all gone and every train going north from Atlanta is loaded with 
refugees, two or three bed quilts containing the all of a family. I had 
thought the advantages of a stop and winter quarters might enable me to 
write the family fully of this people, the armies here and the country. 

Incidents by the scores, I might write if I had the leisure, but that is 
not at the disposal of a regimental commander, if he follows the last in- 
junction of grandfather to me, as I was about entering the army, "Be 
good to your men." 

I suppose you have received my long letter before this and that must 
sufifice until history turns a few more pages. The indications are much 
as they were when I wrote the other day. 

Hurrah! for Nancy. May the dominion of her sons and daughters 
be bounded by the sea alone, while their fame aspires to the heavens! 
I'll quit. We're well. Write. Your brother, 

J. T. Holmes. 

■'Be good to your men." That injunction from the strong 
old man, who had then lived more than ninety years, was the ex- 
pression of two sorts of wisdom ; one given him by nature, the 
other by his experience as a soldier in the Indian wars which fol- 
lowed the revolution and as an officer in the war of 1813 ; yea, a 
third, the experience and observation of that long life, public and 
private. 

It was distinctly undignified and showed a want of proper 
reverence for age when I tossed my pen in the closing "hurrah" 
for my life-long, maiden friend of whose marriage, at three score 
and ten, I had just then heard. She long since passed to the land 
of the leal, and I bless her memory for many a kindness in my 
childhood and boyhood and for faithful devotion to me in man- 
hood, so long as she lived. 

During this forenoon, I had occasion to make some pur- 
chases in the book and stationery lines and stepped into the 
largest establ'shment in this city carrying such stocks. I found 
the proprietor, who fortunately happened to be at leisure to wait 
on me, a very bright, intelligent man. Our conversation was in- 
teresting. When we were pounding av\ay at the lines abotit the 
city in July and August, 1864. he was a small newsboy, six or 
seven years old, and he could not well forget to tell me, with a 
quiet smile, that we really owed him a pension for wounding him 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 2(55 

in the shoulder very seriously with a fragment of one of our shells. 
He recovered, though he will always be under some disability 
from the injury. When the rebuilding of the city began at the 
close of the war, or when we left its site, on the excursion to Sa- 
vannah, he returned with the other refugees who had been driven 
from their homes and began selling papers. The New York Her- 
ald was his favorite, at first three or four days old when it reached 
him, with a shortening of the time of transit as the months and 
years went by and the railroad service and facilities improved 
between New York and Atlanta. That small, plucky boy, with 
the broken shoulder, a few pennies, a good voice and a half dozen 
copies of a great daily newspaper under his arm, on the streets of 
the burned and blackened city, in the midst of a desolated coun- 
try, at the beginning of 1865, developed into the shrewd, far-see- 
ing, broad-minded, cultured citizen of a great southern metropo- 
lis, still on the sunny side of life, abreast with every branch of his 
business, which shows, at a glance, thrift, comfort, prosperity, a 
fortune, in 1897, illustrated to my mind, with striking force, the 
greatness of our country in the opportunities it opens to the 
worthy and the rewards it returns to industry and integrity. His 
career has been a model. 

I violate no confidence when I give his name and address — 
T. F. Lester, No. T Whitehall. 



266 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

Columbus, Ohio, May 28, 1897. 

Leaving Atlanta at 4 :30 p. m. of the 26th inst. we made a run 
of over six hundred miles home by 12 :15 p. m. of the 27th and 
spent an hour and twenty minutes, meantime, in Cincinnati ; and 
now, I proceed to keep my promise to sketch the movements of 
the regiment for two and a half months immediately preceding 
the active commencement of the Savannah campaign, commonly 
called the March to the Sea. 

From September 5, until September 28, 1864, our camp was 
on the Whitehall street or road, a mile and a half below Atlanta. 
It was a dull, heavy time, for the most part. Our ranks had been 
fearfully thinned by death and wounds through the one hundred 
and eighteen days of march and battle. The contracted line on 
dress parade was mournfully eloquent of gaps which had been 
closed up by moving to the right or left and took the heart and 
life out of survivors when memory and reflection were allowed 
to do their perfect work. 

One of my first missions was to visit the poor fellow, who 
wore shoulder straps in the 52d, who was a widowed mother's sole 
pride and who had made his way from Jonesboro to Atlanta, on a 
pretended sick list, after the battle, in which he had taken no part 
whatever, after falling out by the wayside when the batteries be- 
gan their work. His weak, timid legs would not do their duty 
and carry him into visible danger, nor were his nervous hands 
more willing to guide his horse in that direction. Pretexts and 
excuses for absence had gone with the boys for a time, but when 
it was noted down as a steady thing that the officer was never in 
at the death, suspicion was aroused and Jonesboro had sealed his 
fate. I was sorry as ever I was over any man's fall to say to him 
what could not be left unsaid and that was, "You must resign." 
He was lodging at a boarding house in the city and I called on 
him and had a strictly private interview. He had evidently hoped 
that sickness would be accepted as an excuse, but with his pre- 
vious record and the suddenness of the sickness, it could not be 
accepted. I told him that, personally, I could pass it all by, but 
it had become so far public property and had made such impres- 
sion on my superiors that if the resignation was not sent in a 



Camps and Battle-flelds Rev]Siii-:i). 2r)T' 

court-martial would be ordered and 1 was sure he would be dis- 
graced. He resigned under protest, above copied, and avoided 
a much more unpleasant termination of his military career. He 
returned to Ohio and several years after the close of the war is 
said to have died while in some way connected with the police de- 
partment of one of the larger cities of Western Tennessee. 

Another incident of this camping period was the return to us 
of our Lee and Gordon's Mills friend, Dr. Mary E. Walker. She 
was still dressed in the bloomer style, more correctly speaking, it 
was in masculine attire. She had first come to the brigade while 
we lay at Lee and Gordon's Mills in the spring of 1864 and had 
ridden toward the front from that station and been made prisoner 
by the enemy. It was said that her theory was to obtain valuable 
information for the government and a speedy return with it from 
captivity through the chivalric sentiment which the fact that she 
was a woman must inspire in her captors. She expected indul- 
gence and favors on this ground and to be handed about in a deli- 
cate and considerate way which would afiford opportunities for 
learning a great many things about the Confederacy and its inner 
life and conditions. She was mistaken. Her blue suit and the 
time and circumstances of her capture subjected her to suspicion 
and her treatment by the Confederate military was by no means 
considerate according to her own story. She was subjected to 
rigid imprisonment and to some mild indignities and on one oc- 
casion an effort was made to kill her while in Libby prison by 
shooting up through the floor of the second or third story in 
which she was confined. The ball barely missed her. She man-, 
aged at last, after being in different prisons and transported from 
upper Georgia to Libby in Richmond, to obtain an exchange and 
reported at Washington. It was at the time we lay on Utoy 
Creek— about the 25th of August, 1864— that the War Depart- 
ment telegraphed to learn whether or not she had any official con- 
nection, as assistant surgeon, with the 52d. At Lee and Gor- 
don's, McCook had, in a joking way, talked about assigning her 
to such duty with the regiment and upon her return to our lines 
from her captivity she was apparently claiming pay as though she 
held such rank or had rendered service in it. My answer could 



268 Fifty-second O. \'. I. 

not be construed to aid her claim for I had no knowledge of such 
appointment or such service. 

Whether she succeeded in drawing on the public treasury or 
not, on any ground, she appeared at Atlanta and spent some days 
in meeting her friends who had survived the campaign and in an 
effort to have General Thomas recognize her as an assistant sur- 
geon in the army. The General was, however, inexorable and 
she obtained nothing but kind words from that great hearted sol- 
dier. In the movements which presently began, she disappeared 
to the rear and it was quite a number of months before I heard 
from her again. 

In line with my suggestions as to the low spirits and depres- 
sion which pervaded the ranks when we camped at the close of 
the campaign, I make reference to our chaplain, Rev. Jacob S. 
Keagle. He had come to us first at Lee and Gordon's Mills as 
the successor of Rev. A. L. Petty, who had resigned at Nashville. 
It was heroic initiation for Mr. Keagle to enter at once, almost, 
on such a struggle as began in May, 1864, but his office required 
no fighting. It was his duty to brighten the way of those "ready 
to die," or to see that we all were ready. He was instant in sea- 
son and out of season through the campaign in the discharge of 
his duties. Preaching there was none that I can remember after 
we left the mills, but there was enough and more than enough to 
do. On the march he was in the saddle and watchful of those 
who needed his help in any way ; in battle he was with the hospi- 
tal corps ministering to the wounded and the dying. When he 
came to us he had more or less acquaintance with the men of two 
or three of the companies, so that he did not come as an entire 
stranger. The campaign, however, wore him out in spirit and 
when we finally camped on the Whitehall road, south of Atlanta, 
the man who came to comfort and cheer and inspire, while en- 
joying his usual bodily health, needed others to arouse his droop- 
ing spirits and keep him out of deep despondency. He came to 
talk with me about his discouraged mental condition. He had 
no physical ailments, but the heart was all taken out of him, the 
contagion of sorrow and low spirits had seized on him and he 
could not shake it ofif ; he thought he would better resign and go 
back north. Making a sort of prescription and at the same time 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 269 

entertaining- the belief that it would have much utility for the fu- 
ture, I suggested that he could throw off his depression and at the 
same time do a gcod work for many people, if he would systemati- 
cally go about jotting down the history of every man in the regi- 
ment, of each company and of the regiment itself as they might 
be gathered from the survivors. I pointed out the mode of pro- 
cedure, the interest he could arouse in his work when the boys 
found what he was doing, how the work would grow on his hands 
and its value, when finished, in many ways, to many people. The 
proposal excited a momentary enthusiasm and he began the work, 
but in a day or two, fell by the wayside and the pencil was never 
taken up again to make such record. Down, down, sank his 
spirits and at last in a k!nd of despair he resigned and took pas- 
sage on the train with refugees of all kinds and colors going to- 
ward the north. 

September 29, 1864, we were ordered to the train and stuck 
to it until October 2, when we landed at Huntsville, Alabama. 
We passed the chaplain's train at Chattanooga in the evening of 
October 1. Some of the boys saw him among the refugess. They 
were then some four or five days out from Atlanta, but they were 
subject to the exigencies of war and could go forward only when 
the military situation would permit. 

Some years later, the chaplain became a resident of Colum- 
bus and for a time resumed the practice of his early profession^ 
dentistry — then lost his eyesight entirely and a few years since 
joined the "everlasting throng" about which he had preached to 
us and of which many of his friends in civil and military life had 
become members. I delight to say that his friendship for myself 
was steadfast and unwavering to the end, and that I found him 
always a gentle, considerate and kindly soul, a man of intelligence 
and native refinement and sensibility. 

The run upon which the brigade had been ordered and which 
so far as the railroad was concerned, terminated at Huntsville had 
been made to intercept a raid of Forrest on Nashville. My jour- 
nal entries, from October 2, to October 14, brief as they are, show 
the substance of our movements and experiences from the time 
we left Huntsville, upon this second visit to it, until our return. 



2T() FiFTV-SECOND O. \'. I. 

This brings us for the third time to this attractive country. 
I mean the old southern town of Huntsville and its surroundings. 
Two incidents are prominent in mind connected with these visits. 
On the first, when our men were aroused for the march on the 
morning of September 5, 1863, one of them who was wearing 
boots instead of government shoes hastily pulled on a boot and 
was stung in the foot by a scorpion that had crept into it during- 
the night. The poison soon began to show its effects ; the soldier 
was placed in an ambulance and taken along with the column. A 
few miles out I had occasion to ride by the ambulance and heard 
his suppressed groans. Dr. DufT, the surgeon, who had been 
called with others to attend him, told me upon inquiry that the 
poor fellow could not live, and about 10 o'clock of that morning 
the man died. He was a member of the Battery Company. 

The other incident begs pardon in advance for suggesting 
itself. The briefer its history the better. One of the men of the 
brigade— not of the 52d — while we were waiting a little time in 
Huntsville on this second visit was sought out by a dusky damsel 
and shown one of his children — about three months of age — much 
to his confusion and disgrace among his comrades. 

I have come to the last stage of the present record, or history, 
whatever it may be called. The outline of our return from Chat- 
tanooga to Atlanta by easy marches, with the barest hint here and 
there as to some incident of the way, is found in my journal en- 
tries from October 15, to November 15, 1864, inclusive. 

"Dick" was the gray horse that I had left with Mr. Hall in 
the preceding May. We camped at the Mills early in the after- 
noon and when matters were settled down a little, I strolled out of 
camp down toward the Mills and sat down on a large log which 
lay along the roadside and was half musing over the history which 
had been made since we had marched away from the Mills to be- 
gin the Atlanta campaign, when suddenly, as if they had risen out 
of the ground, here came Dick carrying Mr. Hall and a small bag^ 
of meal. Man and horse and meal had been down about the 
Mills and evidently gotten together and started home without my 
noticing any movement until they were close to me trudging 
along the road down the creek. "Conesauga," for so Swan 
named him, from the creek in East Tennessee where I bought the 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisffed. 371 

horse, was still as lame as ever and moved very carefullv and very 
slowly with his burden. His pride and flesh were largely gone 
and I took my last view of the good tempered gray as they passed 
within a few feet of me without making any sign to either horse 
or rider. Why? I cannot tell you, except that then the feeling 
of having any hold on the things of this world was at a low ebb 
and, correspondingly, interest and sentiment were in abeyance. 
To-morrow was more uncertain, if that be possible, than the to- 
morrow of a peaceful, hum drum, civil life. To stop the good 
horse and his kindhearted rider would be the instant impulse of 
to-day. To pat the neck and nose of my East Tennessee com- 
panion and speak to horse and man, if for a minute only, would 
be irresistible, but then "it was different." The chances of war to 
the hardened soldier made such things indifferent, at the moment. 
■■Roebuck," the horse I bought from the McCook estate after 
the loss of both my horses in front of Atlanta, had been showing 
signs of failing health for several days and on the march from the 
Mills to Lafayette developed a well defined case of glanders. He 
lingered along, isolated from the other stock, until the morning 
of October 31, when the old fellow staggered and fell just as he 
came to the line of earthworks, which the enemy had thrown up 
for the defense of Rome before our visit to that city in May pre- 
ceding. Dan. McCook as a Captain on his brother's staff had 
owned and ridden Roebuck in the battle of Pittsburo- Landine, 
April 6-7, 1862. From this point until we reached Kingston I 
was on foot in command of the regiment. A horse was not to be 
had for love or money. "All things come round to him who will 
but wait," and on the 3d of November I bought by far the greatest 
piece of horseflesh I ever owned or rode. He was then plain 
"Jack," but his name was in time metamorphosed, by others, into 
"Jocko." A sketch of him appeared in the Dispatch newspaper 
of September 30, 1893, and is here copied, though the letter em- 
bodied was written without thought of its publication. A wood 
cut of the little fellow appeared with the article : 



272 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

"JOCKO"" IS DEAD. 



HE WAS THE OLDEST ARMY HORSE IN OHIO. 



FOALED ENTtREI.V WHITE AND POSSESSED WONDERFUL POWERS OF 

ENDURANCE. 



Brief History of the, for Many Years, Sole Survivor of Ohio's Jl'ar Horses. 



The Zanesville Courier of September 22d contains a letter written 
some months ago by Colonel J. T. Holmes, giving a history of his war 
pony, which was put on pasture years ago, by the Colonel, with a view of 
simply preserving the horse as long as Father Time would permit him to 
live. The letter was a private letter, written to an Eastern Ohio gentle- 
man, who had asked for information about the pony. The Courier seems 
to have gotten hold of the document through a man named Albert Geis, 
who had been tracing the pedigree of a line mare owned by him. As the 
pony (which is now dead), was for years supposed to be the only survi- 
vor of the army of horses Ohio sent to the war, the letter makes interest- 
ing reading now, and the Courier's article is reproduced, as follows: 

Albert Geis has been tracing the pedigree of a fine mare owned by 
him. The horse alluded to in the following letter from Colonel J. T. 
Holmes, one of the most brilliant attorneys of Columbus, is her sire. 

Columbus, O., JMay o, 1892. 
W. G. Cope, Esq., Moorefield, O.: 

Dear Sir — The old war horse has more known history than known 
pedigree. I'll answer your letter as far as possible. "Jocko" was foaled 
among the Comanche Indians, probably in the fall of 18G1, in Northern 
Texas. When about one year old he was bought from the Indians by a 
Mississippi trader, and brought to the plantation of the latter on "Yocomy 
Creek," in the northeastern part of the state, prior to the siege of Vicks- 
burg. He was purchased from the trader, who had a large herd of horses 
on his land, by the Colonel of the Twelfth Iowa, from whom I bought 
him. 

He went through the Vicksburg campaign and has a mark said to 
have been made by a fragment of shell while the reduction of that city 
was going on. He came with his regiment under Sherman from Vicks- 
burg to Chattanooga, and went through the Atlanta campaign, having 
been in the taking of Mission Ridge. I lost both my horses just before 
the capture of Atlanta. As soon as the city fell we were thrown back 
into Northern Alabama to put an end to Forrest's raid toward Nashville, 
and then having returned by rail to Chattanooga, we began from that 



Camps and Battle-fields Revisited. 273 

point our march to the sea, passing through the countrj^ over which we 
had fought from ISlay to September, 18(i4. At Rome, I lost my third 
horse and was on foot in command of the regiment until we reached 
Kingston. Here we rested a daj' or two, were paid ofif, cut the wires, 
burned the bridges behind us, and fully entered on the famous campaign. 
I bought the horse in question while we lay at Kingston. I rode him on 
the march to Savannah and from there through Georgia, the Carolinas 
and Virginia to Washington City. At the close of the war I computed 
the distance covered by horse and rider in company — it was over 2,000 
miles. 

Of course, all I know of his early history is from hearsay, but putting 
that with my actual knowledge and experience, the little fellow's record 
is one of much interest. 

The officer from whom I 1:)ought him told me that he was not n:ore 
than half grown at the time of the purchase from the planter. The bar- 
gain for him was made while he was in the herd, and it required two cav- 
alrymen, mounted on good horses, to capture the colt and bring liim in. 

He was perfectly white then and must have been so when foaled, a 
very rare thing, as you know. He has made his mile in three minutes 
under saddle when under three years old. 

When I left Savannah on the North Carolina campaign there were 
between one hundred and two hundred horses following us, on the for- 
aging business, because it was my business to gather from the country 
with my troops provisions for 2,500 men. When we reached Goldsboro, 
North Carolina, every horse that had started with him from Savannah 
had been left behind, abandoned or killed. He covered fifty miles per 
day much of that ride. One of those days I mounted him at (i a. m., was 
off his back only twice until the midnight following and was in the saddle 
at 4 in the morning to ride all the next day. 

He came into Goldsboro without chafe, or puf¥, or scar, the best piece 
of horse flesh, according to size, that I ever saw. His strength, endurance 
and intelligence were marvelous; he is living to-day taking his ease, as 
well as old age will permit, on the splendid farm of one of my good friends 
seven miles south of this city; the only war horse living in Central Ohio, 
or in the whole state, as far as I know. 

If I am spared to see the end of the pressure of active, all engrossing 
practice of my profession, I intend to write one book that shall contain a 
fair sketch of his history and its more striking incidents. I have a regard 
for him that excels my regard for some men, and his life and achievements 
excite my enthusiasm whenever I run over such a review as I have given 
you. He has some marks of the Arabian pony and some of the Mexican 
broncho, but is, or has always been, greater than either. 

Trusting I have not wearied or disappointed you, I remain. 

Sincerely yours, J. T. Holme.s. 



274 Fifty-second O. A\ I. 

On the 5tli of July last, along the bank of Alum creek on the farm of 
Mr. W. T. Rees, the old horse met with an accident to which his old age 
ill no wise contributed, but which resulted in a broken leg and the neces- 
sity of shooting hini; so that he niaj^ be said to have "died with his boots 
on." Mr. Rees says his body was decently buried by an old soldier, thus 
crowning his exit from the world with a species of 'military honors.' " 

November S, pursuant to the provisions of law, we "liekl an 
election." It was Lincoln's second race and the soldiers in the 
held were recognized as citizens still and entitled to a voice in the 
selection of chief executive as thongh they were at their several 
homes in a time of profound peace. The measure was right. 
There was no element of forfeiture in the fact that they were in 
the army and away from home. 

The run and march from Atlanta, Georgia, to Florence, Ala- 
bama, and the return to Chattanooga by rail and thence to At- 
lanta on foot over the line of the sunnner canapaign were calcu- 
lated to give us a review- of an impressive nature tending to fa- 
miliarize us with the scenes wdiere the struggles not alone of the 
one campaign, but of two great campaigns had occiu'red ; Chat- 
tanooga and Atlanta, nay, really of three, for Mission Ridge with 
its precursor, Lookout IMoimtain, constituted a distinct cam- 
paign. 

AMiile the march to the sea for our brigade really began at 
Kingston. Avhere the orders for it were received, yet it properly 
began from Atlanta, and now having reviewed the ground and 
the record of experiences from the Ohio to Georgia's Gate City, 
having welded into one memorandum "then and now," with the 
old Atlanta still smoking and flaming, in spots, a desolation, lurid 
by night and blackened by day, we take leave of these notes and 
all that follows in the hope that on some other days we may take 
up the thread of review and so go over the March to the Sea, three 
hundred miles, and the campaign through the Carolinas, the 
march from the sea to the mountains again. 

It is a delight to think that this portion of a long cherished 
plan has been carried into execution. It came at a time and in 
a manner and for reasons which were not foreseen, but, neverthe- 
less has been as satisfactory as though it had come about as the 
result of our own disposition of events. All the conditions of 
our travel and enjoyment have been favorable. It happened that 



Ca-nips and Battle-fields Revisited. 275 

there was a cool wave south as weU as north and we saw only two 
warm, I mean, anything like hot, days while below the Ohio. We 
had neither clouds nor rain ; hotels, their tare and service were, 
with the slightest exceptions, beyond criticism ; we missed no 
train and had no sort of accident. The treatment of the people 
with whom we came in contact was uniformly kind and polite and 
we had no exhibition anywhere of war feeling or bitterness, while 
the cordiality and good fellowship, shown l)y many, including 
men who carried swords or guns against us, were clistinctlv mark- 
ed and emphasized in some instances. The war is over ; the ban- 
ner of the lost cause, I think, furled forever ; the stars and stripes 
seen nutch as in the north ; the pride of country often disclosed ; 
the pride in the valor of American soldiers as displayed on many 
blood}' fields, whether they wore the blue or the grav, is everv dav 
evinced by survivors. Doubtless, the heart is sore and among 
its dregs are some bitter herbs, in many instances, but the futility, 
the utter uselessness of indulgence in practical hatred of section 
or race, is recognized and time and interest and intercourse ; trade 
and commerce and religion, must make us as efifectually one peo- 
ple as are the English of to-day after their civil wars and even 
revolution and counter revolution in government. 

Since the foregoing manuscript was completed, I have found 
two paragraphs from southern sources which possess a power and 
a pathos that appeal to the soldier heart. Between them T insert 
the message of a loyal northerner. 

John S. Wise, a southern veteran, in an address to one of the 
Grand Army posts of Buffalo, September -i, 1S9T, said, among 
other eloquent things : 

"All through the Soiitlierii land are graj^-haired men with whom life 
has gone hard. The burden of defeat — the changed conditions resulting 
from the war, the pinch of poverty, the hard struggle, under adverse cir- 
cumstances, to meet the stern requireinents of life — have changed them in 
these thirty years, until such as have not given up and passed away, are 
bent and gray and time-worn, with the sad eye and soft voice of unsuc- 
cess. They have few comforts left to them. Few excitements of the 
present stir the sluggish courses of their blood. Few passing events 
arouse their interest or attention. When the weary, humdrum day's w^ork 
is done they go to their homes and through the usual domestic routine, 
passing year after year of uneventful waiting for the end. But, boys! In 



270 Fifty-second O. V. I. 

the life of every one of these there was one glorions episode — one 
'crowded hour of glorious life" — filled with perilous issues of such thrill- 
ing import that its memory still hrightens the eye and quickens the pulses 
of these old fellows and will as long as life shall last, no matter how hard 
the game has gone against them. That time was when in gallant youth 
they followed Lee and Jackson. It was just as you followed Grant and 
Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas." 

Two years ago at the Chicago banquet, on Grant's birthday, 
Mr. Holstein, now lawyer, orator, poet, who, beginning in later 
boyhood, wore the blue through the war, a part of the time in our 
32d Indiana, said : 

"The was is over. The scars on both sides are badges of 
soldierly honor. x\.rms are stacked and the ranks are broken. 
Their swords are beaten into plowshares, and their spears into 
])runing hooks, and the lovebirds are nesting in the mouths of the 
dumb cannons. 

'■ 'Let us have peace' was the last command of the great com- 
mander, whose l)irth we conmiemoratc to-night. The blue and 
the gray are brothers. To-night, with thirty years between us 
and the dead echo of the last gun of the last battle, it would seem 
invidious and ungracious to leave unsaid some words of appre- 
ciation of our friends the enemy — the gallant soldiers of the 
South. Grant left tmtaken and imtouched the sword of Lee. 
We are bigots indeed if we do not honor Confederate soldiers, as 
such, for their courag'e. Mistaken in their belief, but believing 
in their mistake, honestly, devotedly, and bravely they fought a 
losing fight. Braver soldiers never faced a foe in battle. Honor 
paid to them for their valor is honor to the Union soldier. The 
valor of each proves the valor of both." 

At Allatoona Pass, where General Corse, (October 5, 18(M, 
received the signal from General Sherman on the top of Kenesaw, 
twenty miles away, to "hold the fort," is a soldier's grave, neatly 
kept, on the marble headstone of which is this inscription: 

"An L'nknown Hero. 
He died for the cause 
he thought was right." 

And now, finally. I quote the other sentiment, tlie closing 
prose paragraph. fr<nn one of the most poi)ular l)()oks in Georgia, 



Camps and Battle-fields Revls[te]). 277 

a book somewhat difificult to find, styled "Mountain Campaigns in 
Georgia," written by a southerner and first issued from the press 
some ten years ago : 

■"The tempest of blood which drenched our land has ceased; its sul- 
phurous clouds have rolled away, and the beams of the sun of reconcilia- 
tion and restored union are lighting the sky over mountain and dale. The 
echoes of the storm are fast being stilled in the ears of those who once 
invoked it; but yet, like the voice of thunder, they roll forth to the world 
the defiance of American manhood to whomsoever dare strike 'the old 
flag' or 'the land we love'; and in the hearts of those who once strove, 
there rules, for the dead of either side who gave their lives for their con- 
victions, the sentiment which one wrote of the humble grave in Allatoona 
Pass, ere he knew under which flag its occupant had shed his blood." 

"He died for tin- cause 
he thoiid>t was right" 



END OF VOL. L 



NDEX. 



Adam, 110. 

"Alfred, Old," OS, 'J'.'i, 100, 101, 102. 

Allatoona, 270. 

Anderson, Gov. Charles, 37. 

Anderson, Capt. Edw. L., 15, 3G, 131. 132, 

145, 157. 217, 234. 
Anderson, Steamer Major, 92. 
Andrews, Lieut. Col. Geo. W., SI, S2, 224. 
Andrews Raiders, 144, 169. 
Anthony, Capt. Jesse, Co. E, 30th Ga., 

214, 215. 
Arminius, 247. 

Armstrong, Capt. Julius, 19, 25. 
Armstrong, Wm. J., 14. 
Atlanta Campaign, 10 et seq. 
Atlanta, July 2S, 13. 
"Atlanta," 232. 
Austerlitz, 171. 
Averysboro, 24. 
Ayers, Blacksmith, 24. 

Bachtell, Capt. Saml.. 2.59, 260. 

Bacon, Uncle Mose, 176, 177, ISO, 19 >, 21S. 

Baird, Gen. Absolom, 11, 24. 

Baldwin, Steamer J. H.. 2. 92, 95. 

Ba'dwin, John. Co. I, 33, 35. 

Baldwin, Mr. & ^^Irs., 65. 

Banghart, Isaac, 13, 254. 

Barnett, Capt. Chas. M., 4, 12, OS, 127, 129, 

139, 146, 20S, 249. 
Barry, Hon. Wm. T.. 45. 
Batchelder, Capt. John H., S, 22, 21, 25. 
Bates, Edw., 65. 
Battery I, 2d 111.. 4, 6S, MO. 117, 12 5, 12", 

130, 131, 20S, 221, 270. 
Bautzen, 171. 

Beatty, Gen. John, 116, 133. 
Bell, Capt. Leroy S.. 116. 
"Benton," cook, 32, 151, 241, 
Bentonville, 25, 135. 
Bernac, Uncle, 171. 
Berry, John R., 271. 
Best, Sergt. Saml. .\., Co, A, 28. 
Bittner, John, 20o. 
Blair, Gen. Frank 1'.. 241. 
"Bloody Pond." 13S. 
Blucher, 128. 
Booth, I. Wilkes. 20, 30, 33. 



liond. "Jim.," 1C5. 

Borodino, 171. 

liotts, John Minor, 35. 

Bowers, Andrew, 14. 

P.owers, C. 11. , 152. 

J'.owman Letter, 36, 241. 

]'.oynton. Gen. II. V.. 135, 13;, 144, 146, 

175. 
Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 6S, 142, 151. 
Brannan, Gen. John M., 134. 
Breckenridge, Gen. John C, 1, 45, 48, 127. 
Breckenridge. Col. W. P. C, 45, 47, 50. 

i^rice, Capt. S. L., 5, 29, 36, 37, 25L 

Ihotherton House, 134, 142. 

B rough. Gov. John, 37, 243. 

Brown, Maj. Sam. C, 128. 144, 145. 

Brownlow, Gov. — Parson — W. G., 4. 

]5ryant Station, 46, 104, 196. 

P.ucke, Capt. Wm. H., 8, 9, 15, 26, 28, 31, 
32, 33, 36, 37, 120, 151, 156, 258. 

Buckner, Gen. Simon B., 94. 

Buell, Gen. D. C, 16, 68, 81. 

ISurkhalter, Capt. James L., 25. 

lUizzard Roost, 9, 10, 167, 228, 232, 246, 240, 
251, 252, 255. 

P.yers, Capt. & Mrs. A. II.. 202. 

livers, Ralph, 202. 

Byrd, Miss, 135. 

Byron, 93. 

Cahoo, George, 21, 33. 

Campbell, JNlr. & Mrs. Robert, 203, 204. 

210. 
Campbell, W. J., Co. IT, 205. 
Cantrell, Capt. Green M., Co. C, 110th 

111., 22, 23, 24, 29. 
Carlin, Gen. W. P., 25. 
Carolina Campaign, 19, 273. 274. 
Carson, Capt. John W., Co. C, 9Sth, 23. 
Carter's Battery, C. 180, 194. 
Carter, Corp. Fenton C, 10, 248. 
Caruthers, 29. 

Casement, Gen. John S., 112. 
Casey, Gen. Silas, 70. 
Chance, James, Co. C", 26. 
Chandler. :Mrs.. 34. 
Channe'I. \\ 1!., lOit, 102, 103, 195, lO.i, 1 7, 

19i 193, 



279 



}80 



IXDEX. 



Chaplin Hills, 6S. 

"Charley," 11. 31, 32, 124, 12(3, 15:',. 1(;2. IC'!. 

245, 251, 255. 
'•Charley 2d," 24. 

Chase, Camp, 2, 52, 7S, 70. SO, S3, S4, Sr,. 
Cheatham, Gen. Frank, 176, ISS. 
Chickamauga, 6, 124, 129, 132, 135. ISX 140, 

141, 143, 14G, 157, 160, 165, 175, 189, 193, 

196, 260. 
Chiles, Lieut. Col. John C, 2. 
Clancy, Lieut. Col. C. W., 10, 14, 15, £6. 

33, 36, 37, 38, 52, 112, 118, 151, 206, 228, 

230, 234, 237, 23S, 239, 245, 249, 255, 260, 

263. 
Clark, Maj. Israel D., 51, 69, 70, 112. 
Clark, Prof. & Mrs. S. M. D., 65. 66, 97, 

98, 102. 
"Clark of Co. I," 236. 
Clay, Henry, 45, 50, Monument. 49. 
Cloud's House, 6, 130, 133, 137, 13S, 139, 

140, 141, 142, 146, 209. 
Cock, Mord. M., 2, 73, SO. 
Coe, Lieut. Alonzo \\'., 13, IS. 
Collier, Lieut. John H., 37. 
Colored Troops, Infantry 14tli, 16. 
Columbus Buggy Co., 224. 
Conlee, Lieut. A. J., Prov. Mar., 29. 
"Conesauga," 10, 16, 134, 135, 153, 162, 163, 

270. 
Connell, O. and L., 116. 
Converse, A. Z., 144, 145, 146. 
Cook, Ed., 5th O. V. C, 2S, 30. 
Cook, W. AL, 2, 71, 72, 84. 
Cooper, Brig. Gen., 91. 
Cope, W. G., 272. 
Corse, Gen. John ISI., 276. 
Courtman, Geo., 14. 
Cowen, Lieut. Col. D. D. T., 109. 
Covington, Airs., 23. 
Cox, Gen. J. D.. 262. 
Craft, Capt. Iliram J.. Co. F,. 9Sth. 34. 
Crawfish Springs, 133. 135, 136, 137. 
Crews, The, 34. 
Cross, Lieut. Alfred, S7. 
Croxton, Gen. J. T., 134. 
"Cuffy," 76. 

Cunningham, Mrs. Annie, SI. 
Currier, Air., 24. 

Dallas, 11. 229, 232. 235. 250. 

Davis, Gen. Jef. C, 7. 10, 22, 25, 26. 2S, 29, 

92, 93, 160, 161, 162, 228, 241, 245. 246, 

248, 249, 259. 
"Davis," the cook, 11. 
Davis, Jefferson, 49, 72. 
Day, Geo. W'., Co. C, 28. 



Day, James 1!., 30. 

Deems, Corp. Wm. C 29, 30. 

Dennison, Camp, 1, 41, .50. 71. T'.i. SO, 174. 

"Dick," See Conesauga. 

Dickerson, James, 50, 261. 

Dickerson, Mrs. .Sue, 129. 

Dickinson, Charles, 99. 

Dilworth, Col. C. J., 4, 15. 1S4, 19S, 217, 

219, 230, 256. 
Dod, Capt. Albert B., 79. 
Donaldson, Capt. James B.. 112. 113. 
Donaldson, Lieut. J. IL. S. 206. 207. 232. 
Donelson, Gen. Andrew Jackson. 101. 
Donelson, Fort, 81. 93, 94. 
Douglass, Emory P.. 2, 71, 74. 
Doyle, A. Conan, 171. 
Dresden, 171. 
Driskell, Wm., Co. K, 26. 
Drummond. Lieut. Wm. T.. 2. 
DuBois, Maj. Jos. N., 11. 
Duff, Surg. Henry M., 13. 254, 270. 
Duff, Lieut. Lemuel W., 19, 21, 30. 31, 35. 

36, 130, 249. 
Duke, Thos., 206. 
Dunn, Alaj., 14. 

Eckmuhl, 171. 
Edwards, Maj. Chas., 27. 
Elliott, Chas., 135, 136. 
Elliott, Geo. R., 135, 136. 137. 
Elliott, J. M., 135. 
Ely, William. 36, 50. 
Ervin, Capt. Joseph, 100. 
Essling, 171. 
Eylau, 171. 

Fearing, Gen. Benj. D.. 19, 22, 24, 25. 

Fellows, Capt, Wm. W.. 111. 19S. 

Fisher, nee Pugh, Nancy. 264. 

Flannagan, Govt, employe, 27. 

Fletcher, Lieut., 38. 

Flynn, Corp. Edgar, 14. 

Floyd, Capt. M. IL, 27. 

Ford, Mrs., 2, 84. 

Forrest, Gen. N. B.. 261. 269. 272. 

Fort Morton, .See AI. 

Fort Negley, See N. 

Foster, Capt. C. W., A. A. G., 90. 

"Frank," 255. 

Freeman, Sergt. Alaj. Wm.. 11, 249. 

French, Capt. John F.. 24. 

Friedland, 171. 

Funston, Wm. J., Co. E., 11. 

Furay, Col. W. S., 12. 252. 

Gaddis, At. P.. Capt.. 93. 
Gallagher, Thomas J., 41. 



IXDKX. 



281 



Gallowa}', Hon. Sainl., o7. 

Gamble, Lieut., 14. 

Garfield, Gen. J. A., 139. 

Gasaway, Addison, 20. 

Geary, Gen. John W., 22. 

Geis, Albert, 272. 

Georgia Troop,s: Infantry 30th, 214. 

Gettysburg, 245. 

Girty, Simon, 47. 

Given, Col. Josiah. 37. 

Glenn, Dr., 22. 

Glenn's Widow, 13S, ISH, 140. 

Glore. Capt. John A. I'.. 111. 

Goldsboro, 25, 26, 27, 272. 

Goldsboro, Dr. & Mrs., 55, 5S. 

Goodloe, Col. William Cassius, killed Nov. 

S, 1S89, 45. 
Gordon, Mr., 136. 
Gorsuch, Capt. Chas. IT.. 2, 19. 
Gossett, Xath., Co. G, 34. 
Gouldy, John A., S, 151, 152, 153, 156. 
Govan, Gen. Danl, C, 223. 227. 
Graham, John, 91. 

Granger, Gen. (lordon. 6, 12t;, 133, 139, 160. 
Granger, Gen. Robt. S., 111. 
Grant, Gen. U. .S.. 27, 81, 91, 142, 217. 276. 
Graves, Capt. Alvin C. 22d Jnd., 23, 24, 
Greeley, Horace, 174. 
Grimes, Lieut. C. \\".. 26. 
Gurley, Capt. Frank, 123. 124. 
Giirley farm destroyed. 5. 123. 124. 
Guthrie, II. A., 48, 49. 

Halleck, Gen. IT. W., 33. 

Hall, Mr., 134, 135, 270. 

Hamilton, Maj. John C, 31. 

Hamilton, Lieut, \\ill., 31, 81, 82, 93. 

Hammond, Alex., 242, 260. 

Hampton. Gen. M'ade. 25. 

Hanau, 171. 

Hanna, Maj. J. J., 5, 9, 154. 

Harbor. Capt, John C, Co. II, 125th TIL, 

23. 
Hardee. Gen. W. J., 18, 70, 237. 
Hardy, .Saml., Co. 11. 17. 
Harker, Gen. Chas. G., 180. 181, 195. 



Harmon, Col. ( )scar F., 5, 1 

184, 198. 
Harper, Sergt. Sam!. .\., 27 
Harriman, Robt., 10. 
Harris, Dr., 17. 
Harrison, Prest. l^enj.. 62. 
Harrison, Dan,, 242, 
Hartley, Antony, Co. D., 17 
Hart. Joel T., 45. 
Havdcn. I'nclc Timmy, 56. 



121. 167, 183. 



Hazen, Gen. W. T... M<. 

Healey, G. I'. .\., lOii. 

Heberling, Will., 71. 

Henry, Patrick, 34, 191. 

Hermitage, 65, 66, 97, 102. 

Hill, Surg. Nath. S.. 19. 33, 31, : 5. 31. 

Hobart, Gen. H. C, 25. 

Hofele, Mathias, 30. 

Holmes, A, R., 2, 11, 12. 50, 5.', NS, 1 19. 

110, 111, 114, 118, 119, 12:J, 150, 163, 234. 

235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 2 1, 

263. 
Holmes, Asa, 114, 116, 117. US. 234, 2:5. 

237, 238, 239, 241, 243, 214, 26n. 
Holmes, Miss Em., 114, 242, 2^0, 262. 
Holmes, "Gen.," 32. 
Holmes, J. T., 2, 50, 67, 84, £0, tl. Ill, 

112, 113, 115, 118, 119, 121, 122, 123. 125, 

129, 131, 1.32, 134, 147, 148, 152. 153, 157, 

160, 163, 164, 165, 168, 215, 221, 231, 232. 

234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 

243, 244, 245, 253, 258, 259, 260, 2o2, 263, 

264, 272, 273. 
Holmes, Mrs., 42, 44, 48, 59, 65. ]0i;. I117. 

108, 135, 144, 174, 201, 202, 211. 212. 
Holmes, Miss, now Mrs, Capt. A. J. Har- 
rison. 26. 117, 119, 122, 123, 263. 
Holmes, John, 98th ( ), V. ]., 2)2. 257. 
Holmes, Col. Joseph, 264. 
Holmes, Will., 36, 261. 
Holstein, Charles L., Maj. and .\. A. G., 

276. 
Hood, Gen. John B., 183, lict, -237, 261, 

263. 
Hooker, Gen. Joe., 8, 11. 142, 14s, 200. 214. 
Hooton, Surg. Massena M., .33. 
Hoskins, Lieut. Francis M., 87. 
Howard, Gen. O. O.. 1.5. 
Hudson, James, Co. K., 28. 
Hunter, Col. ^l. C, 24. 
Hunter, Capt. Robt., 27. 
Hutchison, Maj. S. C, .5, 29, 30, 31. 35. 37, 

131, 217, 221, 227, 244. 
Illinois Troops: 

Battery I, 2d. Illinois. 4, 68, 109. 117. 
126, 129, 130, 131, 20s, 221, 270. 

Infantry, 10th, 160. 

Infantry, 60th, 111, 

Infantry, 78th, 189. 

Infantry, 85th, 4, 18, 19, 22. 23, 27, 29, 
31, 32. 68, 117, 120, 126, 127, 130, 178, 
184, 206, 233, 255. 

Infantry, S6th. 4, 7, 12, 13, 20. 21, 23, 24, 
26, 31. 68, 116, 117, 120, 126, 127, 129, 
130, 155. 156, 178, 229, 230, 233. 

Infantry. 104th, 131. 



282 



liN'DEX. 



25, 34, 178, 189, 



9S, 99, 100, 101. 
100, 101. 



Illinois Troop.s : 

Infantry, 125th 4. 5, 9, 11, 12, 27, .30, 
31, 34. 68, 117, 120, 12G, 127, 128, 130, 
167, 178, 189, 230, 233. 
Tndiana Troops : 

Infantry, 12tli, 37. 
Infantry, 22d, 16, 17 
229, 231, 233, 261. 
Infantry, 75th, 27. 
Iowa Troops: Infantry, 12th, 
Irons, Col. D. D., 116. 
Irvine, John, ("o. P., 38. 
Irvine, Gen., 20. 
Jackman, Henry, 80. 
Jackson, Gen. Andrew, 97, 
Jackson, Mrs. Rachel, 98, 
Jackson, Gen. T. J., "Stonewall," 211, 276. 
"Jackson's Capn.," 32. 
James, Maj. Frank B., 19, 30, 35, 36, 37, 

131, ISO, 194, 222. 
Jay's Mill, 134. 

Jeffers, Andrew J., Co. K, 28, 33. 
Jena, 171. 

"Jocko," 16, 19, 20, 25, 31, 33, 36, 271, 272. 
Jones, Geo. W., 32. 
Jonesboro, 15, 174, 214, 215, 216, 218, 219, 

223, 224, 231, 232, 243, 258, 266. 
Johnson, Prest. Andrew, 4, 30. 
Johnston, Gen. Jos. E., 28, 29, 30, 1S3, 237. 

Kauffman, Henry, 2. 

Kauffnian, Lieut. W. II., 2. 

Keagle, Chaplain Jacob S., 268, 269. 

Kelly House, 134, 135, 142, 193. 

Kenesaw, June 27, 12, 171, 175, 189, 193, 199, 

200, 206, 211, 229, 232, 235, 236, 233, 256. 
Kenesaw Mountain, 169, 175, 194, 195, 196, 

229, 235, 252, 253, 276, 277. 
Kennedy, Capt. John, 206. 
Kentucky River, 1, 45, 52, 67, 69, 70. 
Kentucky Troops: Infantry, 2Sth, 16. 
Key, Philip Barton, 247. 
Kilpatrick, Gen. Judson, 14, 22, 23, 24, 25, 

28, 35, 239. 
Kimbrough, Rev. D. \\'., 151, 152, 156. 
Kimbrough, Lieut. J. A., 9, 151, 152, 156. 
Knecht, Lieut. Ad., 14, 226. 
Kno.xville Campaign, S, 150. 155. 
Kyle, Lieut. Col. B. S., 81. 

Ladds, The, 34. 

Lamb, Wm., 38. 

Lane, Col. Chas. M., 3. 

Lane. Capt. Wm. PL, li;. 19. 27, .31, 131, 

205, 237, 238, 244. 
Langley, Lieut. Col. J. \\'.. 4, 27, 28. .30. 

31, 33, .34, 120, 259. 



Laval, IMonsieur, 171. 

Lee, Gen. R. E., 26, 28, 32, 33, 31, 27 

Lee, Mr., 136. 

Leipsic, 171. 

Leslie, Frank, 33. 

Lester, J. F., 265. 

Lew. Wallace Camp, See Wallace. 

Lexington fire, 44, 45. 

Ligny, 171. 

Lincoln, Prest. A., 29, 113, 167, 263, 

Linton, Otho, Co. E, 14, 226. 

Logan, Gen. Jno. A., 241. 

Longstreet, Gen. James, 148, 150, 151. 

Lookout Mountain. 16. 106, 107, 121. 

148, 196, 236, 238, 274. 
Losses, 232, 257. 

Lowmiller, John, Co. D, 11, 251. 
Lyman, John B., Co. D, Sth N. J., 9] 
Lynnville, five houses burned. 5. 
Lytic, Gen. Wm. IL, 139. 

Aladden, Michael, 217, 221. 

Magee, Lieut. Col. David W.. 4, 7. 

Magee, Wash., Co. H, 17. 

Mammoth Cave, 53 et seq. 

Mann, Adjt. Wm., 125th 111., 30, 33. 

Mansfield, Capt. Henry O., 121. 131. 

March to the Sea, 17, IS, 223, 264. 265. 

273 274. 
Marsh, Lieut. Ad. :M., 16, 130, 206. 
Marshall. Mr.. 37. 
Martin, Jack, 36. 
Martin, Uriah, Co. F, 26. 
Mason, Capt. S. T., 7. 
Mason, Col. Rodney, 81, 82, 83, 224. 
JNlasury, Lieut. Geo. A., 3, 5, 11. 30. 
130, 215, 218, 219, 237, 243, 249, 266. 
Maxon, Sergt. H. C. Co. D, 26. 
May 12, not 21. p. 34. 
:Nrc.\fee, 6, 130, 133, 139, 157, 161, 163. 

167, 168. 
McClellan, Gen. Geo. V,.. 26.3. 
^tcConnell, Gen. Henry K., 224. 
McCook, Gen. Alex. McD., 16, 271. 
McCook, Col. Dan., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, li), 
41, 42, 50, 51, 69. 70, 71. 90, 92, 112, 
120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 129, 130, 
133, 139, 141, 156, 160, 164, 168, 177. 
181, 183, 184, 189, 197, 198, 202, 207, 
234, 235, 2.37. 244. 248. 253, 267. 271. 
McCook, Maj. Daniel, 90. 
McCook, Gen. Ed., 13. 
McCook, Gen. Robt. L., 5, 41, 123. 
AlcCook, "Mother," 65, 90. 
McCue, Wilbur, SO. 
:McDonaId House, 133, 141. 



22C. 
266. 



165 



13, 
113. 
131. 

ISO, 
228. 



Index. 



•283 



McDonald, Lieut, (.harles, 11. 

McDonald, Maj.. 22. 

McElravy, Lieut. Col. J. W., S. 11, 1^!, 25. 

151, 220, 235, 23:t. 242. 
McElravy, Frank \V.. 235, 237, 242, 255. 
McElravy, Capt. Thos. C, 12S. 
McFarren, Thos. P., SI. 
McGown, Lieut. Harvey, SO. 
McGown, Miss iSIollie, 262. 
Mclntire, Lieut. A. 1!., 25, 20. 
Mclntosli, John, Co. G, 30. 
McKenzie, John K., 29. 31, 32, 33, 15:J. 
McLaughlin, John, 154. 
McMillan, Saml., 10, 234, 235. 
McMillen, Gen. W. L., SS. 
McNeill, Mr., 24. 
McPherson, Gen. J. i!., 11, 237. 
McPherson Barracks, 224. 
Mercer, Sergt. L. D.. Co. B, 26, 30. 
Mercer, Robt. N., 217, 218, 221, 222, 226. 
Milam and Miller, 225. 
Michie, Gen. T. J., 34. 
^Michigan Troops: 

Infantry, 10th, 109. 

Infantry, 14th, 29. 
Miller, Thompson. 2!S. 
-Aliller, \V. or J. L.. 33. 
Mills, Strgt. I. L., Co. II, 2S. 
Milton, John, 29. 
Minehart, jMr., 176. 
Miser, Benj. P., 206. 
Miser, Lieut. David F., 9. 12, 1.51, 1S3, 1S6, 

192, 206, 232, 235. 
Mission Ridge, S, 100, 107, 142, 150. 155, 

167, 195, 196, 244, 272, 274. 
Mitchell, Gen. Jno. G., 28, 31, 139, l.sO, ISl, 

190, 19S, 205, 215, 219, 222, 256. 
]Monocacy, 241. 
Montgomery, Thos. II., 227. 
Moody, Col. Granville, 37. 
Moore, W'ilstach & Baldwin, 07. 
Moore, Thomas. 203, 211, 212. 
Morgan, Gen. Jas. I)., 7, 10. 13, 17, 24, 25, 

27, 28, 30, 111, ISS, 189, 215. 219, 222, 225, 

226, 241, 248, 256, 258, 259, 261. 
Morgan, Gen. John IL, 1. 48, 49, 50, 71, 

72, 74, 75, 80, 92, 116. 241. 
Morgan Raid, 116. 
Morrow, Capt. M. L., 3, 112. 113. 
Morton, Fort, 64, 96. 
Mose, Uncle, See Bacon. 
">Iun." Nig., 12. 

Napoleon, llio. 171. 
Nashville I'.attle, 100. 
NashviKe lire. 103. 



Negley, Fort, 64, 65, 96, 103. 

Neighbor, Capt. S. M., 130, 232, 235. 

Neighbor, Lieut. David, 4. 

Nelson, A. J., 35. 

Nelson, Gen. Wm., 51, 52, 67, 69, 92, 161,. 

162. 
New Hope Church, 199. 
New Orleans Battle, 78, 100, 101. 
Nichols, Edgar, 171. 
Nickojack Cave, 124. 
Norris, Col. Jno. A., 20S. 

"Ohio in the \\'ar," 67. 
Ohio Troops : 

Cavalry, 10th, 255. 
Infantry, 2d, 79. 

3d, 116. 

15th, 11, 234. 

ISth, 13L 

30th, 13, 220, 231, 239. 

38th, 19. 

40th, 48, 124, 144. 

52d, 1, 4, 7, 17, 19, 20, 31, 36, 
41, 42, 50, 65, 67, 68, 69, 83, 
91, 92, 93, 95, 109, 111, 112, 
113, 116, 117, lis, 119, 120, 
121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127, 
128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 
134, 144, 147, 149, 151, 152, 
153, 154, 156, 157, 15S, 160,' 
164, 165, 171, 174, 175, 177, 
178, 180, 181, 1S3, 186, 187, 
188, 189, 206, 219, 220, 221, 
228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 
234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 211, 
243, 244, 245, 246, 248, 250, 
254, 255, 257, 260, 266, 270.. 
Infantry, 65th, 128, 144. 

69th. 6, 9, 124. 154. 

70th, 229. 

71st, 2. 79, 80, SI, S2, 83, 93. 

74th, 2, 27. 

95th, 88. 

9Sth, 37, 42. 50, 71, 124, 125,, 
128, 175, 189. 20S. 

104th (111.), 131. 

105th, 27. 

112th, 27. 

121st, 20, 1S9. 

17Sth, 31. 
Cng, Dr. Alf, 38, 115. 
Overton, Gen. Thomas, 100. 
Oxford, mortality. 31. 32. 

Pakenham, Gen. Edw. ;\I., 100. 
Pa'mer, Gen. John :\I., 10, 22S. 211. 248. 
"Palmet," 18. 
Palo Alto, 167. 



?.S4 



Index. 



J'aioled Forces, Third Regt., SG. 

I'aiil, !Miss or Mrs., 61. 

I'each Tree, 13, 202, 206, 207, 20S, 209, 210. 

212, 230, 232, 237, 238, 255, 250. 
I'earce, Gen. John S., 38. 
Pea Ridge, 162, 182. 
I'egram, Gen. John, 69. 
Peters, Dr., 117. 
Peters Hill, 68. 
I'etty, Rev. A. L., 109. 268. 
Pierce, Geo. W., Co. B, 31. 
Pierce, Maj., 91. 
Pigeon Hill, 5, 121, 122. 
Pittenger, W. A., 144. 
Pittsburgh Landing, 72, 81. 82. 271. 
Poe Field, 136. 

Polk, Prest. & Mrs. James K., 61, 62. 
Polk, Gen. Leonidas, 12. 
Poole, Lieut. Ira H., 232, 235. 
Pope, Colonel, See Swope. 
Porter, Emory, 78. 
Porter, "Jim.," 92. 
Porter, Sergt. John, 79. 
Porter, Stiles W., 79. 
Porter, James L., Co. ("., 30. 
Prescott, W. II., 29, 30. 
I'ugh, See Fisher. 
I'urtiman, ^Martin, 7. 
Pyle, Saml. M., 188. 

Oiiatre Bras., 171. 

Ralston, W. C, 94. 

Rathbone, Col. J. C, 2. 89. 

Ray, Lieut. Wm. II., 19. 

Reed, John, 71st, 80. 

Reed's Bridge, 133, 135. 

Rees, W. T., 274. 

Reid, Hon. Whitelaw, 67. 

Resaca, 10, 168, 228, 232, 234, 246, 247, 248, 

249. 
Rex, Ross E., 2, 71, 73, 235. 
Rej'nolds, Oliver, 50. 
Rheuark, Thos. PL, 30. 
Richardson, Gen. W. P., 38. 
Rider, Maj. Robt. G., 5, 12, IS, 119. 
Rinehart, John, 18. 49. 
Ringgold, Maj., 167. 
Robinson, Gov. Jas. F., 76, 80. 
Rochester, A. A. G., 29. 
Rocky Face, See Buzzard Roost. 
Roe, Sergt. David A., Co. I, 22. 
"Roebuck," 13, 16, 271. 
Rogers, Capt., 78. 
Rogers, Sergt. J. C, 69. 
Rome, 10. 168, 229, 234, 235, 249, 250, 262, 

273. 



liosa, Asst. Surg. A. J., 9, 15S, 159. 

liosa, j\Iiss Maria, 159. 

Rosecrans, Gen. Wm. S., 6, 68, 69, 95. 106. 

108, 118, 123, 134, 138, 139. 
Rosser, Gen. Thos. L., 35. 
Rothacker, Capt. Saml., 16, 26, 70. 71. 7s. 

S3, 121, 131, 185, 217, 221, 222, 232. 
Rudler, Maj, A. F., 1, 50. 
Rudolph, Lieut. Goss'er, 258, 260. 
"Sam.," Negro, from Adger's, 22. 
"Sambo," SO. 

Sandtown Road, 14, 214, 225, 227. 
Savannah, 18. 

Schneider, Capt. P. C, 5, 8, 206, 207. 232. 
Schofield, Gen. John M., 27, 247. 
Schurz, Gen. Carl, 29. 
Scott, Sergt. D. M., 17. 
Scott, Capt. Pleasant S., 29. 
Scott, Sergt. Thos. F., 26. 
Scroggs, Lieut. Geo., Co. E., 125th. then 

Adjt. 60th 111., 36. 
Shackleford, Gen. Jas. yi., 117. 
Shane, Maj. J. M., 189. 
Shepard's Run, 8, 155, 156. 
Sheridan, Gen. Phil. H., 28, 33, 34. 276. 
Sherman, Gen. W. T., 8, 10, 12, 14, 17. 18. 

21, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 200, 215, 

218, 236, 238, 241, 242, 247, 248. 252. 257. 

258, 260, 261, 262, 263, 272, 276. 
Shiloh, 72, 81, 82. 
Shimei, 252. 
Sholl, Diggory, 135. 
Shultz, \V. K., 26, 29, 30. 
Sickles, Gen. Daniel E., 247. 
Sid, the little servant, 11, 19. 
Siegel, Gen. Franz, 174. 
Sims, \V. T., 214, 223. 
Simpson, Sergt. Maj. — now Judge — 'SI. P.. 

11, 48, 124, 146. 
Simpson, Asst. Surg. Saml. A., 11, 20. 
Slocum, Gen. Henry W., 24, 28, 29, 35. 224. 
Smartt, Maj., 135, 137. 
Smith, Byron, Co. K, 20, 26, 29. 
Smith, Chas. H., 9L 
Smith, Drs., 22. 

Smith, Gen. E. Kirby, 50, 67, 68, 72. 77. 
Smith, E. P., 26. 
Smith, Capt. Geo. A., 23. 
Smith, Saml, 206. 
Smyth, Emory, 29. 
Smoot, Dr. and wife, 37. 
Snake Creek Gap, 10, 168, 228, 229, 246, 249. 
Snodgrass Hill, 138, 139, 141, 142. 146. 1S9. 
.South Mountain, 83. 
Stanley, Gen. D. S., 262. 
Stanton, Hon. E. M., 85. 



Index. 



J85 



Steadman, Gen. J. B., 5, 6, 13S, 133. 
Stewart, Gen. A. P., 136, 137. 
Stewart, Capt. P., 2. 

Stewart, Sergt.— now Rev.— N. B., 5, 121. 
Stewart, Will., 80. 
St. Cloud Hill, 64. 

Stinson, Capt. Robt. B., GOth 111., 27. 
Stokes, R. O. M., Isaac, 32. 34. 
Stone, Henry, A. A. G., 259, 260. 
Stone's River, 2, 69, 109, 116. 
Stoneman, Gen. Geo., 28. 
Story, Hon. Joseph, 100. 
Streight's— Gen. A. D.— Raid, 116. 
.Strickland, Gen. Silas A., 11. 
Sturgis, Capt. Win., 10, 52, 244, 249. 
Stimmers, Capt. J. M., 19, 24, 30, 130, 222. 
Sumpter, Fort, 162. 
Swan, Joseph, 9, 71, 135, 151, 270. 
Swift, Capt. Chas., 8, 16, 19, 21, 27, 232. 
Swope — not Pope — Col. Armstead M., 
killed Nov. 8, 1889, 45. 

Tanner, Lieut. John F. C, 22d Ind., 27. 
Taylor, Corp. James, 37. 
Tennessee Troops: 

Infantry, 3d U.. 2, 14, 87. 

Infantry. 19th, C. 151, 152. 
Terrell, See Chandler. 
Thermopyla, 254. 
Thomas, Capt. Abisha C, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 

28, 29, 36, 37, 130. 
Thomas, Camp, 88, 89. 
Thomas, Gen. Geo. H.. 10, 14, 100, 120, 13 ), 

160, 259, 260, 268, 276. 
Thomas, Maj. Jos. F., 12, 20. 
Thomas, Mr. & Mrs., 74, 75, 80. 
Thompson, Corp. J. !M., 5, 121. 
Thompson, one of the men. 36. 
Thompson, Dr. Rezin, 114, 115. 
Thompson, Samuel, 114, 115. 
Ticknor, Geo., 29, 30. 
Tod, Gov. David, 1, 113. 
Toutebourg, Forest, 247. 
Townsend, Gen. E. D., 240. 
Troxell, Lieut. John J., 4. 5. 
Tunnel Hill, 9, 10, 167, 16S, 22S, 244, 245, 

246. 
Turchin, Gen. John B., 127. 

Uncle Bernac, See B. 
Uncle Mose, See Bacon. 
United States Troops; 
Artillery, 12th, 162. 
Unknown Hero. 276. 



Urquhart, Capt. Moses J.. 125. 

Utoy Creek, 256. 

\'aliandigham, Hon. C. L., 147. 

\'alley Forge, 154. 

Van Cleve, Gen. H. P., 3, 105. 

\'an Derveer, Gen. Ferd., 24, 134. 

Van Dorn, Gen. Earl C, 117, 120. 

Vandyne, I. or J., 30. 

Van Home, Chaplain T. B., 256. 

Varus, 247. 

\'icksburg, 272. 

Vittitoe House, 138. 

\'oltaire, 200, 226. 

\'on Doehn, Wm. A. A. G., 91. 

Wagram. 171. 

Walker, Lieut. Col. J. P., 5, 119. 

Walker, Dr. Mary E., 15, 36, 37, 163, 164. 

240, 267. 
Wallace, Geo. W., Co. F, 11, 251. 
Wallace, Gen. Lew., 84, 86, 88. 
Wallace. Camp Lew., 2, 14, 86, 87, 88, 89. 

91. 
Walthall, Gen, E, C„ 141. 
Washington, 36. 
Washington Monument, 34. 
Waterloo, 128, 171. 
\\'aters, Capt. D. R., 160. 
Watson, Col. James, 48, 146. 
Watson, Maj. Otway, 27. 
Watson, Div. Surg., 21. 
Wauhatchie, 148. 
Weber, Henry, Co. I, 12. 
Webster, Col. Geo., 71. 
\Vellington, 128. 
Welt, J. K., 179, 180. 
Werntz, John, 80. 
Wheeler, Gen. Joe., 23, 28, 09. 
Whipple, Gen. W. D., 240, 243, 258. 
\\'hittaker, Gen. W. C, 3. 
Wilder, Gen. J. T., 138. 
\\'illiams, Maj., 16. 
Wills, Hon. A. W., 115. 
Wilson, Alf., 144. 
Wise, John S., 275. 
^^'iseman, Capt, Theo., 162. 
Wood, Gen. Thomas J., 11, 134. 
Wright, Gen. H. G., 2, 90. 
Wright, Elisha, 116. 
\\'right, Atty., 224. 
W., Mr., 90. 
Wycofif, I. N., 179. 

Yates, Capt. Sanil.. 23, 24, 25, 26. 



